


Snooping

by morgancatlovey



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Corruption, Deep plot, Detectives, F/M, Fluff, Forgiveness, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gangs, Intricate Plot, Letting People In, Love Confessions, Masks (physical and emotional), Mild Gore, Minor Character Death, Morals, Plot Twists, Police, Reader Insert, Reader has been hurt, Responsibility, Romantic Friendship, Trust Issues, Underground Crime Rings, adult reader, alcohol (obviously), city life, enemies everywhere, family values, like i said, mature themes, reader has seen some shit, slow burn love, younger siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-07 03:51:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 61,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5442344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgancatlovey/pseuds/morgancatlovey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Y/n) is an experienced detective who leaves no cases unsolved. When at the station one morning, she is assigned a complicated homicide case, seeing as to how there are no solid leads to the murderer- who is still roaming the streets without having a care in the world about being caught by the police. In the midst of solving the case, she meets the mischievous and slippery killer. Apparently intrigued by (Y/n), he decides to make her the object of his cruel jokes and taunting behavior. Will this killer get bored like he did with the last few, or will something truly sinister blossom between the two?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Case

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm doing a rewrite of all of my chapters, just so they flow a lot more, and lead into the plot so that it really fleshes out the story and makes it more enjoyable and... flowing I guess. ANYWAY, hope you enjoy. :)

I take a deep breath and let it out again with hard sigh as I drearily look up into the the red-bricked building of the Police Precinct. I hold my hand up to my head and block the sunshine reflecting off of the upper level windows and into my eyes, then suck it up and make myself push the doors open.

One foot in front of the other, how boringly routine. A dull headache starts up in the back of my mind, causing my eyebrows to furrow and my jaw to lock as I grit my teeth. The same thing happens here just about every other day of the week. The same onyx black high heels clacking against the sloppily polished tiles. The same annoying chatter of the secretaries at the front desk squealing and poking their long acrylic nails at each other as they obnoxiously laugh. The same ever present smell of doughnuts and spilled coffee wafting around the spacious room. The same whispers of "she's back..." and the same few young men and women that run up in front of me to talk- even though they know I'm not going to talk to them. I have a job to do- somebody has to do it.

The only way I can escape from this hell hole with my sanity is to go out and solve one of these damned crimes.

I sidestep the last guy who tries to stop me and finally make it to the chief's office. I knock lightly and listen hard for whatever sound he makes through the door. I roll my eyes as I hear papers being knocked off of his desk and hurried whispers.

'I at least have to give him credit for remembering to close the blinds this time.'

Soon enough, I hear a muffled grunt through the flimsy wooden door, and promptly twist the knob.

I don't even bother to look up at the secretary with the hurriedly applied makeup on as I walk up to the police chief's desk. She still doesn't notice that she forgot to wipe the smudged lipstick off from around her mouth and the front of her teeth- painfully obvious because of the huge fake grin she flashes at me.

Oaf, as I call him, clears his throat and looks at me expectantly, raising his huge, unkempt eyebrows at me in a silent question. The idiot- he already knows what I want.

I give him a sour look and hold out my hand for the new case file, reaching my other hand down to flip open the flap of my satchel and take out the file folder for my last solved case. Oaf scowls right back up at me and smacks an overstuffed manila folder into my outstretched hand as I toss my papers onto his messy desk. He should really clean that back up, or he won't be able to find my next case through all of that clutter. I would probably get bored and probably cause some trouble myself. I mean, I've gotta keep myself entertained around here after all.

Oaf points to the door, that same scowl tugging down at the corners of his mouth. I scoff and tuck the new case under my arm. I finally turn my eyes towards his new short blonde bimbo and give her my best smirk. All I do is point to the corner of my lip before I turn on my heel and walk out. I don't need to see her face, I can already tell that her eyes are bugged out and her mouth is gaping open, just like every time I catch them doing something.

I close the office door behind me and lean my back against it a little, taking another breath to clear a little bit of that nagging headache. 'Back to the old routine... oh well. As soon as I get out of here I can start this new case.' My eyes shift to the packed folder under my arm in a sideways glance. 'I hope it's a good one this time.'

I shove off of the door and pass everyone in the office again, walking past the gossiping squad at the front counter again and catching onto a conversation about the new intern's dick size.

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to block it out again. 'Just what the hell is the world coming to these days...?' I push back through the doors and stay on the front steps a little longer before I decide to dive into the lunch crowds swarming the streets. I pick a little opening before jumping into the sea of people. With all of the jostling and bumping, I decide on heading to my favorite little coffee shop down the street so I can review the case in peace.

I take a sharp turn and roughly bump into the chest of a slightly taller man. I don't look up, but I can tell that he is a little weird by his fashion taste. He wears a plain dusty grey hoodie covered in some kind of flaky red substance. It dots his denim jeans as well. He hurriedly moves past me as I turn my body to let him continue forward. Only when I turn to mutter a quick apology do I realize that he is already gone, leaving me to stand in the middle of the crowd with people deviating around me.

"That's odd... usually someone would be cussing and yelling at me by now. Guess he was in quite the rush." I mutter to myself, my eyes staying trained behind me for a few seconds longer even though I know he isn't there anymore. I simply shake my head and knock myself out of my trance before looking up at the walk sign near me.

I take in a sharp breath as I quickly run across the crosswalk with a five second warning flashing on the sign, then turn to catch my breath and flip off a driver that laid down on their horn at me even though I had a second left.

I laugh a little, then turn around to look up at the corner store in front of me with little brown and gold accents on the windows and large window stickers of coffee and fall leaves. I smile at the simple name, Catrina's Coffee.

I open the shop door and immediately am greeted by the twinkling of bells signaling my arrival to the servers who have mostly gone home by now. I take a quick look around and end up seating myself in my usual booth by the kitchen. It seems like nobody really wants brunch for lunch today, seeing as there are only two people in here besides me, typing away on their computers with their mugs of coffee placed right in front of them. I almost laugh when one of the guys moves his cup right below his chin so he can continue writing and sipping at his cup, but ends up fogging up his glasses.

I set my files on the glossy wooden table in front of me and slide off my satchel, letting it sag on the booth right next to me. I almost jump out of my skin as I her a couple of high pitched voices yell, "CATRINA!!! Y/N IS HERE!!!"

The next sound I hear is the slight padding of sneakers slapping along the planked wooden floor moving closer and closer. I turn and laugh at the sight of the twins, Ella and Evan, racing each other to get to my booth. They skid to a stop right next to me as I somewhat match their excited grins as look down at them. I swing my legs and hop down from my booth, then bend down to give them both a bear hug. They greet me with open arms as I latch onto them and lift their small feet off of the ground, swinging them back and forth a couple of times and giggling with them.

I see Catrina walk out of the kitchen door with a dish towel in her hands and a crinkled smile on her face. She wipes her hands on the towel before quickly setting it down on a nearby table and moving forward to join our group hug.

The twins squeal and complain as they get squished in between the both of us. I laugh at their our childishness and accidentally set off a chain reaction of giggles from all three of them, sitting the little ones down to give Catrina a hug of her own.

"Hah... sorry I was gone for so long. I had to stay up on the South side to finish up the arrests last night and file all of the paperwork on my computer."

"You should have called, we were worried!" Catrina lightly scolds me.

I grin apologetically. You see, Catrina and the twins are my adopted family of misfits. We were all brought together through tragedy, but hold each other up because we all know how to truly empathize with each other. Catrina's husband killed her only son when he was twelve back when she was around forty five years old. I locked him up in prison with a bunch of other crooks and killers, then gave her all of the support I could. Through this, she was able to fulfill her dream of opening a little coffee shop inside the city.

The twins' parents were murdered as they slept in a secret bunker they had found in their closet after a fight they had with their parents. What was supposed to be a simple robbery of the family turned into a double homicide, leaving two six year old twins without a mother, father, or any family support. I gave the murderer a slow death inside a mental hospital for the criminally insane.

Now as for my story, I was orphaned as a child when my parents were murdered as they were walking home from their twentieth anniversary dinner. I was only sixteen years old, right in the middle of the most crucial years of my teenage life. After their deaths, I finished high school early and devoted my life to getting justice for people like me. After I tracked down the main suspect, I ended up having to shoot him when he pulled a gun on me while trying to resist arrest from a group of twelve cops. From there, the case was dropped.

All of these horrible tragedies happened all around the same time about four to six years ago. We all came together and formed our own little family to make up for the ones we lost- helping each other out in coping with our loved ones' deaths. But on a happier note, we all treat each other like our own.

"So, how was business this morning Cat? Any trouble?" I sit back down in my booth and pull the twins up with me, catching the soft smile of one of the writers, who quickly turns his head and hides halfway behind his computer.

"No," she says as she looks around at the other patrons for a second before sitting down across from us, "just a few young kids came in without their parents. They apparently left them out on the streets and gave them a hundred dollars and a meeting place. Miraculously none of them had been kidnapped yet..."

"Oh, did you call CPS or someone that could take care of them?" I ask her without a hint of surprise. It's not the first time I've seen people letting their kids roam freely in a big city without supervision. Sadly, it happens more often than you might think.

"I let them stay here for a while and gave them something to eat. I called a number they gave me, and their grandmother came in and picked the three of them up. She was apparently getting custody of the children today in court. The kids seemed so happy to be able to live with a loving person again."

"That's great that it turned out alright. I'm really happy for them. Oh, I got a new case today from the department. I haven't even looked at it yet."

"Let us see! Let us see!" I give a little bit of a start as Evan butts in and starts hopping in his seat.

"Yeah! Come on (Y/n), let us see!" Ella chimes in with him.

I bite the inside of my cheek lightly, thinking it over as I accidentally catch Ella's irresistible puppy dog eyes. Silently cursing under my breath, I sigh and shake my head in amusement.

"Fine, but I have to skip the parts that are classified, okay?" I mumble with a defeated look. Catrina chuckles lightly behind her hand, her eyes crinkling up as she does.

"OKAY!!!" They practically yell in unison. I shush them as the other writer turns to look back at us with a little bit of a bewildered look, causing me to smile sheepishly at him and hold up a hand in apology. He nods and turns back to sipping his coffee again.

I open up the manila folder and skim through the evidence, holding it close to my eyes so the twins can't look over my shoulder at anything that isn't meant for them to see. There are a few articles, pictures clipped on a binder ring of the bodies and around the crime scenes, some addresses, etc. I decide to read a couple of the newspaper articles. I quickly hide some crime scene photographs moving around a little metal ring from the two's not so innocent eyes. Even though they know what death looks like- being the first responders to their parent's crime scene- they are still young kids, and it would be unnecessarily grim to show them pictures like these.

I leaf through the files a little more to get to the oldest article and hum to myself when I finally find it. "Alright, here we are."


	2. Investigating Boys

A/N: I think you'll understand the picture when you get there, but just so you know, I found that as a little bit of a visual reference for you guys after I wrote it. :)  
"Young man found dead near woods." I lower my eyelids a little at the text and raise my brow. "This reporter sure knows how to make up a great article title, huh?" I look down at both Ella and Evan, who roll their eyes and rotate their wrists a little in a motion that basically says, 'yeah, whatever, keep reading'. I laugh a little and go back to the text. "Earlier today, John Parker (age 20), was found dead near the northern woods. His family stated that he never had any real enemies, but he was a bit of a troublemaker. Still they did not know who would want him dead. His death seemed to be caused by blood loss. The scars seemed to be from a large animal, but that was later found not to be the cause as a symbol was found carved on the man's forehead. The symbol was the —" My eyes widen for a second as I skim the next words of the article, causing the kids to glare at me from either side of me. Catrina only looks up at me expectantly, patiently waiting.

I sigh with relief, then look up a little- realizing my sudden stop and hurrying to continue. "The symbol was the same as the one etched into the glass of the shop that was vandalized last week according to officers on the crime scene: a circle with an hourglass shape in the middle.  Police Chief, Brian Ashcraft, has revealed that they have found vital information and are chasing the leads with the strong mindset of catching this vandalizing murderer."

I huff again with annoyance. Oaf went around telling the media about our crime scenes yet again. At least he had the decency to lie about the symbol's shape. It would cause chaos if the general public knew about the operator symbol that has been popping up at crime scenes recently. The press would have a bitch fit getting pushed out of our crime scenes if they happen to get wind of them before us. Leaked info about the actual harsh gravity of the crime scenes that has been hidden behind "don't worry, we'll handle it"s would also put a lot of distrust between the station and the people- not that there is much there to begin with anyways.

Stapled to the back of the article is another, more recent news clipping. Another report on the homicides. I go to read the title and internally face palm.

"Man and woman murdered in their own homes. Cases connected?"

'Who the hell comes up with these titles anyway?'

"Mark Vallie and Beatrice Sellhorn were found murdered in their homes last Sunday, April 21st. 'They seem to have known each other,' says Mark's neighbor Erick Sorah. 'She came over every day until they fought the day before they were murdered. They stayed apart from each other the next day.' Police Chief Brian Ashcraft has told the public that the murders relate to the case in last week's issue. The killer is on the large, be careful and lock your doors and windows at night."

I bite my lip in concentration, skimming over the text again.

'Oaf sure does give a lot of info to this specific reporter, now what was her name again?'

My eyes flick up to the author of the article, and I almost slam my forehead down onto the table as I see his new secretary's name. I close my eyes and scowl, taking another breath to calm myself down.

"(Y/n) dear, you are going to get frown lines if you keep making that face."

My eyes snap up to meet Catrina's, startled out of my thinking bubble. I blink a couple of times as I notice soft weights on my shoulders. I look left and right before chuckling softly. Ella and Evan are propped up on my shoulders, sound asleep. I nudge the both of them back into consciousness, which causes them to groan and snuggle into me even more. I sigh lightly and nudge them harder. Ella finally opens her sleepy eyes and blinks at me slowly, yawning.

"Remember what I told you two about staying up late? Come on; get up so I can get you guys tucked in again." I lightly scold them.

They groan in protest, but move to get up all the same, stumbling out of the booth seat. They stand awkwardly while leaning on each other for support. It's a wonder they don't fall over with how crooked they are standing. Every few seconds, one of their heads fall forward, and they jerk awake before falling asleep again.

I pick up Evan while Catrina picks up Ella. We both make our way through the small kitchen, and I have to readjust Evan in my arms to free my hand. I then reach forward and open the door that leads into our little house that used to be part of a larger restaurant before we made the back half into our home. I kick the door open a little more with my foot and place both hands back on Evan, and then continue across our living room towards the twins' room. I go through the open doorway and place him on the bed with Catrina following close behind, dragging a large, navy blue blanket that they drug to the couch sometime this morning to most likely cuddle up and watch cartoons. She drapes the woolen blanket over the two, then smiles as they turn and cuddle up against each other. It's a rare sight nowadays- they think they are too old for cuddling.

My smile fades from my features and is replaced with a sad frown. 'It's so terrible that they had their innocence taken away at such a young age... they didn't even have time to be kids- now they just pretend so they can get attention. I know, I can see it in their eyes when they speak to me.' I shake my thoughts away, noticing that Catrina has gone back into the restaurant to monitor the other two patrons over the little counter that looks from the kitchen, out to the rest of the little cafe.

I walk back through the kitchen and towards my booth, but pick up my pace a little as I realize that I just left my case files open in a public place. I rush through, brushing off Catrina's weird glance, but sighing in relief as I see that none of my papers have been touched. I hold my hand to my head and calm down my erratic breathing a little. I shouldn't have left them there where someone could take them, but I didn't think that anyone could walk in and grab my stuff that quickly without knowing exactly what was there. Good thing nothing was taken.

"Such a rookie mistake.... what is with me today?" I snap at myself, closing my eyes and shaking my head behind my hand.

"I could ask the same thing to myself, actually."

I give a start and whirl around with a panicked expression. I didn't even hear someone sneak up next to me. My eyes widen even more as I come face to face with the man I bumped into on the street a little while ago, only recognizable by the smell of the cologne he was wearing, his body type, and the shoes on his feet. I relax a little bit as I see the playful half-grin on his face. The first thing I notice is that he must have changed his clothes, but then I notice that once the odd red flecks are out of sight and I can see his face, he actually looks pretty handsome. I avert my eyes as he catches my stare, and I run my fingers through my hair nervously, grinning right back at him.

In all honesty, he's not just handsome, he's gorgeous. He has semi-long, side swept, copper colored hair and a black and white striped scarf around his neck that softly rests right under his Adam's apple in loose loops. He's wearing a simple white T-shirt under a grey overcoat now, and now I can see small hints of abs through it. I'm a little impressed as I notice that he's wearing faded denim skinny jeans, and they fit him very well- not too tight all over, with the fabric loose in some places so they fit him just right. My eyes start to travel back up, and I notice the semi-dark tan on the bare skin showing around his collar bones, but as my eyes meet his again, I do a double take as I see that he as unnatural reddish colored eyes that match his dark hair. He seems to have been doing the same once-over as I was doing, which causes him to sheepishly grin as I stare into his eyes.

'Must be contacts.... they do suit him though...'

"A-ah, I bumped into you earlier." I start moving my hands around and gesturing when I speak. It's a habit that I thought I had gotten rid of, but I usually to do it when I get really nervous. "I'm sorry about that... I wasn't really paying attention and I left before I could apologize.... I, uh, thought you might have been one of those people who look for an excuse to yell at random people on the street- like half of the city... oh god, sorry I'm rambling." My hands drop to my sides and I lock them behind my back, averting my eyes again and staring at the floor as I squeeze my hands painfully into fists. I hate being nervous. It makes me feel weak again- kind of like what I felt like after my parents were killed. I don't ever want to be like that again.

"Oh no, I don't mind. I enjoy talking to people in this city who won't glower at me and plan to mug me later."

I laugh a little at his comment. The reality, is that it's actually what half of the people in this city will do. We are in one of the top ten most dangerous cities in the country, actually. You have to make sure you stay with the crowd at all times and alert enough to not let anyone follow you back home that looks at all like a criminal- meaning literally everyone.

"So.... um, what are you doing here?" I ask politely, trying to make conversation while scooting closer and closer to my case files without managing to be rude.

"I, uh, came here to eat."

I stop moving towards my files and squeeze my hands tighter behind my back to suppress the urge to smack myself upside the head. I can feel my face heating up and sigh softly.

'What the hell is with you today?! Come on, you don't pay any attention to literally every man you encounter, and now suddenly you're blushing and giggling like a little lovestruck schoolgirl with him? And where the hell did your brain go when you said that, OF FUCKING COURSE HE CAME HERE TO EAT!!!"

After my little internal 'pep talk', I shake my head and look up at him again. He smiles with understanding and keeps a calm expression that makes my heart stall for a second without my consent.

"I'm sorry- I really don't know where my mind is today."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, I won't judge you if you are having a bit of an off day."

I meet his gaze again with a thoughtful grin playing on my lips before I take the last step towards my folder and slam it shut, startling him a little.

"Just, give me a second. I'll be right back."

I whip around and snatch up my folder and satchel before rushing through the kitchen door again, catching his confused expression out of the corner of my eye as he blinks after me. I make my way into my room, then throw my stuff down on my bed- cringing a little as a few papers slide out of the folder and onto the floor, but I wave my hand back at it and dismiss it, running back into the kitchen.

I grab my simple white apron from the shelf and fasten it around my waist, fumbling with the bow and dropping it for a second, but then pulling it back up and securing it. I stand still for a second, checking my appearance, but then I shake my head and give myself a disapproving expression. 'Since when do I care how I look?' Disregarding my thoughts, I walk back out of the kitchen, with Catrina eyeing me out of the corner of her eye with a smirk.

I see him standing in the same place I left him in with a puzzled look on his features. As soon as he spots me with an apron, he does a double take. I laugh a little and grab a menu by the bar as I walk over, realizing that the two writers have left and Catrina has collected their change.

I sidle up right next to him and hold his menu out to him. He stares at me for a second before knocking himself out of his thoughts and promptly sitting down in my favorite booth.

"S-sorry, I would have never guessed that you worked here." His confused expression turns into a little bit of a smirk as he continues talking. "I shouldn't be surprised though, you do seem like you have a lot on your plate." I roll my eyes as he bites his lip to hold in his laughter.

"You're not punny."

"Aww, am too..." He pouts and sticks out his bottom lip. I laugh a little through my nose and take my notepad out of my apron, then slide my pen out of the rings of the paper.

"So, what would you like to drink?"

"Just water, please."

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute to give you some time to decide." I write down his order of water on my notepad, then pocket it as I walk back into the kitchen- feeling his eyes follow me all the way until I'm through the door.

As soon as I get through, I do a small fist pump, which makes Catrina laugh as I walk up next to her and take a clean glass out of an overhead cabinet. My fingers wrap around the cold surface and I pour ice water from a pitcher that stands next to her on the counter into the cup. Placing the pitcher back down on the counter with a small clink, I move my hand in a motion meant to convey "come closer".

She leans her ear towards me with a knowing grin that I roll my eyes at. "Can you do the cooking for me? I know it's my shift, but I know this guy, and I kinda wanna talk with him some more. I promise if someone else comes in, I'll work. Will you? Please, please, pleeeeaase?" I plead with her.

She brightly laughs as she leans away, but turns towards me and gives me a little bit of a skeptical look.

"You are interested in a guy? Since when?"

I place my glass back on the counter and clap my hands together, then kneel down on the floor and look up at her with a pleading look. She finally gives in and belts out a loud round of laughter, nodding down at me. I get up and wipe my palms off on the coarse white fabric of my apron with a little bit of a blush dotting my cheeks.

"Yeah, alright sweetie. Go on now, don't leave the customer waiting." She chides me with a playful grin that she tries to hide.

"Yes!" I whisper shout, then do a little dance that causes her to laugh a little more.

"I mean it, get out there and see your Prince Charming."

"Oh my god, what did you just say? You are so freaking weird, Cat." I wink at her then grab my glass and head out of the kitchen.

He looks up as he notices me, then folds his menu. He smiles and places it at the corner of the table for me to take. I go to reach for a paper coaster on the other side of the table, but grin and set the glass down as I notice that he already put one there for me. I turn my attention to him, then take my notepad back out and hold my pen up, ready to write down his order.

"Ah, I would like the chocolate chip pancakes with a side of..." he freezes, then looks at the menu again with an awkward, apologetic grin, "um, fresh strawberries. Thanks."

"Okay, great. Would you also like some company with that?" I bury my emotions and try my best to keep a neutral expression, quirking my eyebrow and lightly smirking at him. I also just half hide behind my notepad.

"Is it free of charge?" He chuckles out after he gets over his initial shock.

"Yes, of course." I feel my blush returning a little, but keep up my act in hopes that he'll agree. Suddenly, I realize that I'm actually really hoping he'll let me sit with him. My eyes widen slightly and I bite my lip unconsciously as I allow myself to accept that light blush and fluttery feeling in my chest.  
After all, the fluttery feeling is kind of warm, and makes me feel happy- excited even. I might just open myself up for once.


	3. One Thing After Another

"Well, I think I'll take that offer." He says with a broad grin and gives me a flirty glance.

I keep face and let only a little smile slip onto my lips, but internally I'm screaming and saying "oh holy fuck yeah!" over and over again. I slide his menu off of the table and hold it at my side until I get near the kitchen, where I then place it back on the bar. I hand his order to Catrina as I walk in and then shove the pencil and notepad back into the scratchy pocket of my apron. I untie the small bow at the back and then hang it up on its hook by the door before meeting Catrina's expectant and teasing grin. I give her a thumbs up, then compose myself a little and push back through the door.

My heels clack against the floor a little too loudly for my liking, even though the sound is barely audible as I briskly walk over to his table. I almost have a heart attack when the tip of my heel catches on the floor a little bit, but I catch myself before I can trip. I look up at him with a horrified look, but sigh as I notice that he wasn't watching, and was instead taking a drink from his water glass and closing his eyes out of habit.

I successfully make my way over to him without making a proper fool of myself (miraculously) and sit across from him, fixing the hem of my slightly wrinkled black skirt. I smooth out the small creases, telling myself that I'm doing it to look neater, but I know it's just nerves getting to me again. I look up to see him propping his head up on his hand, looking thoughtfully at me. We meet each other's eyes and smile goofily.

"So, what do you do?" I ask first, taking the initiative.

"I'm actually a bartender a few blocks down from here; you know the place on Epler and Vagabond drive?"

"Yeah, I've seen it before- the one with the huge neon sign in the window?"

"Yep, that's me! Or- I mean- that's where I work anyways... I couldn't physically be a bar." He laughs and runs his hand through the hair on the side of his head with the hand he is leaning on embarrassedly. I giggle at him, which causes him to come back to me and start talking again.

I prop my own head up on my hand, holding it right under my chin as I listen intently to him. I half consciously twirl a small strand of hair around my finger, winding and unwinding it around my finger. I tilt my head a little as I stare into his eyes with a curious expression. I focus in on them a bit to try and find the slight outline of a contact, but I can't seem to find one. I do find that his eyes aren't a pure red, but more wine colored: a mix of maroon and dark purple hues that intermix to make a spectrum of purpleish reds.

I'm so captivated by his eyes that I don't notice that he has stopped talking.

"Um, are you okay?" He takes his hand out from under his head and moves it in front of my eyes in a light wave. I jump and yelp quietly, suddenly surprised by the hand in front of my face.

"W-what? Sorry..." I press my lips together in a firm line and look away for a second.

"I asked what your name was. I- haha- forgot to tell you mine- I'm Kage." He laughs nervously and tilts his outstretched hand sideways and down a little, holding his hand out to shake mine. I slide my hand into his and shake it with a slight firmness, scolding myself a little as I squeeze just a little harder than I meant to, but he doesn't say anything as I open my mouth to say my name.

"(Y/n)... I'm sorry again, I was trying to figure out what color your eyes were, and got a little... carried away."

He smirks and leans towards me, the bottom loop of his scarf gracing the table as he leans halfway across it.

"Would you like a closer look?"

I blush and grin crookedly. Challenge accepted. I keep my hand on the bottom of my chin and lean forward in mock innocence, but that is quickly replaced with a wry grin. I guess he didn't expect me to do it because his eyes widen in shock and his lips opens slightly.

"I do believe that you have red wine colored eyes, good sir." I mutter with a super fake British accent. He laughs and cocks his head to the side. My own eyes widen a little as I realize that I'm so close to him that I can smell the mint on his breath. I panic a little and hope the gum I was chewing earlier has freshened my breath enough, but if it hasn't he doesn't seem to care.

"Quite. Is that a problem, my lady?" He mirrors my tone, quickly picking up on the accent.

"Haha, no." I continue, dropping my accent. "I actually think they are cool, I was just thinking that they fit you well."

"It's fine, I know they are weird."

"No, I'm serious. I really like them."

We both pause as we realize that we are still really close to each other, both of our eyes flicking down to the other's lips for a second before moving to pull away. Just as we start to pull away, I hear a couple of excited, high pitched noises from behind me. I don't even have time to react before two little boulders crash into my back, pushing me roughly onto his lips.

Both of our eyes snap wide open as we meet, and I feel my lip get cut on his teeth. Regardless, I keep my mouth against his and he keeps his against mine, even though we could both pull away if we really wanted to. Our eyes flutter shut for a few seconds, but when I feel his tongue grace over the slit in my lip, my eyes fly open again- just in time to feel him pull away.

I blink several times as we just stare at each other with slightly shocked looks before my expression takes a darker turn as I hear the twins snickering behind me. I turn and glare at the mischievous kids behind me. They sit right next to each other in the booth behind me, trying to stifle their laughter. I clear my throat, causing them to look up at me and stop laughing. They cower back a bit as I give them my "are you fucking kidding me" death glare.

"If you don't go back to your room right now, I swear I will tickle you until you pass out."

The gasp and shake their heads in disbelief, flicking their eyes behind my shoulder as they see Kage peeking out from behind my shoulder, but then looking back at me as I nod my head and smile crazily at them. They look at me with horror as they hastily scramble out of the seat and run back to the safety of their room. I see Catrina lean through the kitchen doorway and mouth a quick "I'm sorry!" before she turns and gives the kids a disapproving stare.

I sigh and turn back around to face Kage. He is smiling nervously, and I can still see a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"I am so incredibly sorry about them."

He doesn't say anything, and it scares me for a second, but he reaches forward and swipes his thumb across my bottom lip. I look at him with a dazed expression, not expecting that in the least. He pulls his finger away with a ruby red drop of blood on it, the sting of the cut not even registering in my mind, but only the cool tip of his finger softly pushing into my bottom lip. I touch my finger against my lip after he pulls away, my body still remembering his warm, soft lips against me. He wipes the blood on a nearby napkin then hands it to me with an apologetic look that also registers in my mind as almost... sad? Or disappointed. I can't quite tell, but it frightens me slightly.

"I-It's fine. I didn't know you had kids, you look so young."

My eyes snap open and I shake my head with a light grin. "They're not my kids- they're just living here with us."

I swear I can see his face brighten up.

"Wait, you live here?"

"Yeah, there are rooms in the back from a restaurant that used to be here. We redid them so we can live back there."

"So wait, why are they living with you? Where...?"

My smile falls a little and I turn back to smoothing out my skirt again. "They... they died around four years ago."

"Oh... I'm so- I'm so sorry..." At first he looks a little shocked, but then turns his eyes back towards the kitchen with a certain empathetic air about him- what looks like a distant memory playing through his eyes for a second before he turns back to me. I give him a small smile and fist the material of my skirt into my hand as he mirrors my expression. He looks down at his arm and to a watch just peeking out of the sleeve of his coat. All of the sudden, his eyes widen and he nearly jumps out of his seat with a terrified expression.

"Oh shit! I should have been at work ten minutes ago!"

He hastily clambers out of his seat and fumbles in his pants pocket. After a few seconds of digging, he jerks out a black leather wallet and practically slams a twenty on the table. He wears a worried expression as he shoves his wallet back into his pocket.

"Keep the change!" He starts running towards the door, his scarf swaying behind him as he rushes out. 

I jump as I realize I haven't gotten more than his first name, much less any contact info.

"W-wait! How-"

"You'll see me again, don't worry! Sorry for wasting your food!"

With that and a hasty wave, he pushes out of the door and disappears into the bustling crowd making their way across the street. I sigh disappointedly as I pick myself up from the table and pick up his water glass, then shove the twenty in my back pocket, trudging towards the kitchen with a damper on my mood.

"So, how'd it go?" I hear Catrina ask me with a hopeful tone laced through her words. I don't meet her gaze and keep staring at the floor as I put the twenty in the cash register under the bar counter. Her smile fades as I stand back up from my slightly crouched position with a tired expression.

"It went wonderfully. I was acting like an idiot the whole time, Ella and Evan made us kiss, I cut my lip, he had to leave suddenly because of work, and I didn't even get his phone number..." I sarcastically grumble, taking the freshly prepared plate of food from her hand and shuffling towards the counter next to her. I pull out a fork from our silverware drawer and stab it into the pancakes, melted chocolate bubbling up through the puncture wounds like blood, making me wince.

"I'm sorry about them, sweetheart. I told them that you were talking with a guy without almost killing him, and they just took off running to meet him. At least we know they trust your judgment...?" She tries to make a bright side, but as I give her a sideways deadpan expression, she lets her shoulders sag and places a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah right, they trust my judgment. They still made me kiss him, those evil little..." I huff and let the last bit of my sentence trail off.

"Yes, I know (Y/n)." She rubs my back a second before pulling her hand away and grabbing her apron again from the rack as another writer comes in, this time a bright eyed young girl. "You just go on back. I'll do your shift for you." She gives me one last fleeting look before she walks out. I don't get to say thank you to her, but she already knows I'm grateful.

I sigh and pick up my plate again, then take a sip of the water I was holding, my eyes widening when I realize Kage drank from it. My eyes quickly go back to normal as I realize that we kissed, so it really doesn't matter if he has... whatever the fuck... herpagonnasyphillis or whatever. There's no use avoiding it now.

I shake my head at myself and walk through the door frame to go back into our house, then throw myself down on the couch without spilling any of the water. I kick off my heels, reveling in the clacking noise they make as they hit the floor while I set my water down and pick up the remote, flipping through the channels to watch some random news as I stretch out my toes.

About halfway through eating the pancakes and thirty minutes into learning just how much information the press is getting from us, I roll my eyes as I pretend not to hear the soft giggles coming from behind the couch. That's starting to become a habit again- rolling my eyes. I gently place my plate down on the wooden coffee table in front of me so it doesn't make any noise, then roll myself off of the couch without it creaking, and crouch down as far as I can on the floor. I shuffle my foot forward and accidentally hit the side of a wooden plank that was beginning to pull up, feeling a splinter go into my big toe, but jerking my foot away before I can totally impale myself.... on the floor.

'God, that's something I never thought I would do- impale myself on the floor. I'll have to pull that out later...'

I continue on and move around the side of the couch, then put my back flat against the side of the couch and ready my feet in a position that I can spring back and get them if they see me. I smirk as I see them getting ready to peek over the top of the couch with a feather and a marker. Placing my hand on the floor, I shoot forward and grab onto Ella- Evan dodging by inches from sheer luck. I turn myself mid-air and pull her to the floor with me, giggling as she yelps from surprise.

Evan starts to run with a petrified look on his face as he sees me start to tickle Ella. She pleads with me to let her go through raspy breaths between laughs.

"Get back here you rascal!" I yell to Evan. "I might be able to cut you a deal!"

He stops about half way through his bedroom door, turning to look over my shoulder at Ella- her eyes begging for help.

"Mmm, no." He giggles and runs inside his room. I sigh and let Ella get up from the floor, then push myself up into a sitting position. She glares at the bedroom door with a pout, making me laugh and playfully ruffle up her hair.

"Whaddya say we get some sweet revenge on that little criminal?"

Her eyes brighten up and she turns to look at me, tackling me back down onto the floor and curling her small fingers into my shirt, hugging me lightly.

"Yeah, it was all his idea anyway..." She nuzzles into my collarbone before I wrap my hands around her back and lift myself back up again.

"Come on, let's get him."

 

Time Skip

 

I push my finger tips against my door and let it swing open, then stumble over my feet to move towards my bed. I throw myself down on the soft pillows of the bed which wrinkle and make a loud 'poof' noise as I hit them. I sigh loudly and I stretch my arms above my head with a yawn, wincing as I stretch my legs and feel how sore they are.

'Fff- why do I insist on wearing heels on work days?' I pitifully whimper.

To add onto that, playing with the twins has really worn me out. I reach my hand down to massage my calf muscles, cringing at the memory of getting a Charley Horse in the middle of last night. My fleeting touch ends up at the heel of my right foot. I pull my leg up a little closer, stretching it out and holding it up towards the ceiling before bending my knee against my chest for easier access. I grab it again and massage my fingers into my arch, groaning in content. As I reach my other hand down to join the other, I accidentally brush my finger against the splinter in my big toe, causing me to jerk my fingers away slightly.

"I need to get that out.... ohh, I don't wanna." I roll onto my side with a disapproving noise, then force my legs to slide off of the bed and fall onto the floor, whimpering as the irritated skin sends tingling pain through my foot.

"Ow? God dammit floor, why did you do this to me?" My eyes widen as I realize what I just said. "Fuck, now I'm crazy to top it all off- talking to the floor."

I groan a complaint as I drag myself towards the bathroom. I pull open one of my counter drawers as I step onto the tile, sighing as the cool white tile numbs the burning sensation in my inflamed toe. I sift through the drawer full of clutter and pull out a pair of tweezers, then sit on the toilet lid in the back left corner of the bathroom. I reach forward again and grapple for the knob on a drawer in front of me, then jerk it open when I get a hold of it, hitting my bicep against my toe, causing me to let out a string of annoyed insults towards the air as I hiss in pain.

I rummage a little more and get a band aid, holding it between my teeth as I hold my toe still and gently slide the small wood chip out. I drop it in the trashcan next to me and pitch the tweezers back into the drawer before dropping the band aid into my hand and pulling the tabs off around my toe so it sticks and fully protects my cut.

I shove off of the toilet and push the drawers shut as I make my way back towards my bed. Sitting cross-legged on the sheets, I feel the mattress sink from my weight. I lean over and push the fanned out files from the case back into the folder before picking it up and dropping it on my legs. I lift the smooth surface of the folder and peek inside at the ring of pictures.

I hum lightly as I see just how bloodied the crime scenes are- bodies sliced open and laying at awkward, inhuman angles. On every one of the bodies, the operator symbol is carved somewhere into their flesh. I leaf through the rest of the pictures and police reports. I'm not surprised to see that there was only one witness account, and their depiction of the killer was literally just "monstrous and creepy as fuck".

"Yeah, that really helps... Kyle Smithy."

I prop my head up on my head and boredly sift through more files, placing them in little stacks according to file type. The only recognizable thing about the killer is the black and white mask that covers his face from what Kyle Smithy has stated, even being able to give a facial sketch of the killer with the mask on. Half of it is white and the other half is black with a sadistic, white smile and a squinted crescent moon of an eye that is flipped upside down, like a frown.

As I look at the crime scene pictures again, I stop to notice that there is also some Japanese Kanji for tsumaranai carved into their skin along with the operator symbol. I have to look at for a minute and remember back to my foreign language training to figure out that it means "boring". I throw the ring of pictures down next to me with a frown. All in all, the only way I can really track down the killer is to investigate the nature of the victims and try to see if they connect besides the man and woman. But for leads? I have pretty much nothing.

"Why do they have to make my job so hard? Can't the crime scene division give me more fucking background?" I bite my lip, rolling it between my teeth disinterestedly. "Oh well, if it weren't challenging, I would probably be just as bored as this killer, now wouldn't I?"

"What are you doing snooping through my files?" The voice comes from right next to my right ear as I feel a hot breath of air against my neck.

"Holy fuck!" I yell as I jerk from shock and end up falling off of the bed, hitting the floor with a loud thud. I scrunch my eyes up from pain and open them again as I angrily rub against my now very sore head. My heart freezes in my chest as I open my eyes to the exact same mask that I am supposed to be looking for.

The 'thing' is standing on the ceiling right above where I was seconds ago, only hanging there by a form of large black claws that puncture the material of my ceiling.

"What the ever loving fuck are you?!" I growl as I sit up and scramble to get my satchel, knowing my gun is in the side pocket.

"Oh, how lady-like! This is more interesting that I thought it would be!" He says enthusiastically, following my movements with close precision. He notices my movement towards the satchel unfortunately, and retracts his claws so he can jump down onto my bed. He reaches my satchel just as my fingertips brush against the side strap, jerking it away from me.

He reaches his hand into the bulging side pocket of my satchel and takes out the gun with a dark, mocking laugh, pointing it back at my forehead.

I gasp and try to crawl away, scrambling out of the bullet's range, but my back hits the wall a lot quicker than I would like to. I shoot up from the floor and take a defensive position, snapping my hand down to the hem of my skirt. I lift the fabric slightly, but freeze for a second as the face on his mask changes from a playful grin to a slightly surprised poker face- the paint morphing into different shapes. My eyes widen, but I push past my surprise and slip my fingers around the rubber grip of my knife, jerking it out of its holster and holding it in front of me with the blade sticking out towards him.

I shake my head in disbelief as his expression changes again into a smirk of sorts. I grit my teeth in a dangerous expression, ready to bury my knife into this guy, but something makes me wait. I don't know what, but the thing in my brain that warns me 'kill or be killed' and 'if you hesitate in the moment it counts, you will die', is overridden, and the kill switch stalls.

"Clever girl- you really are something else. But haven't you heard the expression? You aren't supposed to take a knife to a gun fight." He snickers at his sentence.

"Tell me what you are here for, bastard. Don't you dare move a muscle. I won't hesitate to dig this knife into your neck."

"But you're hesitating right now!" He rolls off of the bed, hiding behind it for a second before moving to stand up at the foot of the bed. "But, as for what I'm here for..." He starts to lower the gun, but I keep my knife at the ready, preparing to run forward as soon as I'm in the clear. He changes his features again, holding the gun sideways against his chin and putting his hand on his hip in a thinking expression.

All of the sudden, it all clicks in place. I know this voice. I've heard it before. My eyes widen and rage boils within me. The switch is finally flipped back on. It's an exact match to-

"Kage?"


	4. Truce?

"Aw, she figured it out- how cute. You're a lot cleverer than I expected you to be." He tilts the gun towards me as he talks, using it more as a gesture, but still. He places his right hand on his chin, then presses his sharp black claws against the side of his mask, changing his expression into a malicious smirk.

I grit my teeth and tighten my grip on the handle of the knife in anger. "I can't fucking believe it. Of course, you of all people had to be the fucking killer." I snarl, digging my nails into the flesh of my palm in my other hand, almost drawing blood.

"Woah, I never fucked anybody- just killed 'em."

Impatience weighs on my consciousness, but a small part of me wants to believe that I still like him. I want to rip my heart out of my chest at the notion.

"Tell me why you are here, bastard."

"Or what? You gonna nick me with that little knife of yours?" His smile widens as he flexes his fingers over the gun.

Overthrowing that hope inside of me, I reel my hand back and take a step, following through with a throwing motion quicker that he can think to hold up the gun. I feel the handle of the knife brush my fingertips one last time before reeling towards him in deadly little somersaults.

His expression actually turns surprised, then scared in a split second as he watches the knife careening towards him in slow motion. I blink, hearing the sound of ripping fabric and a gun clattering to the floor, and all of the sudden, he isn't in front of me anymore.

My eyes dart to the window, which is still closed, then all around the room before coming to rest on the knife again. Not even a single drop of blood coats the blade. I yell in annoyance before turning to search around again.

"Where the hell...?"

"Up here!"

I look up just in time to see him falling towards me, arms outstretched and smirk playing on his mask. I gasp, but don't really have time to actually react before he pushes me down to the ground, causing me to fall flat on my back.

The force of the blow knocks the wind out of my lungs, my eyes going wide and my mouth opening to try and suck in air, but I just look like a fish out of water. My hands try to reach up and claw at my throat, but then change direction to try and push him off of me, but he grabs both of my hands and traps them under his knees. My chest jerks and a wheeze a little, squirming to try and get up so I can breathe again.

His crescent eye widens to a full circle as he realizes I can't breathe. I struggle as hard as I can as I see him lift up the bottom of his mask to reveal dark grey skin instead of the tan I saw earlier.

All of the sudden, he is on my lips. He takes his free hand up and pinches my nose, then breathes into my mouth, filling my lungs. My nails scratch against the hardwood floor at the sensation, and I'm screaming internally at him to get off of me and away from me, and I grit my teeth against him even though I still can't breathe very well on my own. He growls against me and takes his other hand up, latching onto my jaw and pulling it open again, his nails lightly pushing into the soft skin of my cheeks.

Once he feels me take a heavy breath by myself, he finally pulls away, and I jerk my head sideways to get him to let go of me, which leaves little white scratches behind on my skin. I cough a couple of times, the force arching my back slightly as he pushes down on my shoulder to steady himself from my wiggling. I go to glare at him, but confusion flashes across my features as I spot a genuinely worried expression.

"I didn't come here to hurt or kill you; I just wanted to play around with you, okay? I'm not here to hurt your family either. You're just fun, unlike everyone else around here. I'm just.... I'm sorry okay?"

He lifts his arms and crosses them across his chest, then looks to his right with a huff. I swear I can see a dusty pink blush on the white side of his mask. My heart rate subsides a tiny bit, but my anger over the betrayal is still there. I'm still scared of him, whatever he is, and no matter how much that damned hopeful side of me wants to forgive him, he killed innocent people- and I'll never forgive him as long as this side of me lives and that statement holds true. 

"You killed innocent people. It's my job to lock up people- things like you." I spit with as much hate as I can muster.

"Well, to be absolutely truthful with you, those fuckers deserved everything that was coming to them."

"Yeah, and I've never heard of that before." My eyebrow raises and my glowering look gets even darker.

"It's true. The first guy was the leader of a cult that was kidnapping and sacrificing children. You know how many kids get snatched off of the streets, and nobody bothers to tell anybody what they saw, so that's where they go. Human sacrifices before they even get to really live their lives." He sighs hopelessly as he spots my still unconvinced look. "The second guy, Mark I think, hid behind a clean record and innocent act, but he was planning to kidnap and torture his girlfriend if she didn't want to get back together. I wouldn't have killed him yet if I knew about his girlfriend though. She worked at a nursing home a few blocks away from here. She beat her patients and threatened their families." His gives me a pleading look, searching through my eyes before shutting his own eyes and shaking his head with a defeated look. "Look, I swear I wouldn't lie to you about this. I'm not for killing senselessly- it's not a person I would ever want to be. I know it was wrong, but with however many complaints were filed and ignored by the police department here- lives lost because of laziness and ignorance- I just couldn't stand by. You have to believe me."

I keep my expression neutral, but internally I'm tearing myself apart. Part of me believes him, knows that the police department here is so corrupted that his reasoning checks out, but the other part of me- hurt by betrayal and loyal to following the law- doesn't want to listen to him at all. He killed someone. It doesn't matter that he killed them for a good reason... right? But then, wouldn't I be just the same as him? I've killed criminals before when no one else would catch them. I struggle to keep my resolve.

"Please, trust me about this."

"How do I know I can trust you again? You already broke my trust once."

He peers back into my eyes, his expression turning angry, causing me to look up in surprise. He leans forward so he is right in front of my eyes, then smacks his hands down on the floor by my ears, causing me to jump and hit his chest a little out of my unconscious instinct to flee. He laughs darkly into my ear, causing me to shiver as he leans a little more to my right and brushes his still uncovered lips into my ear. "Because if I were lying to you, why are you still alive? I could have simply killed you the first time I saw you, but I didn't." He laughs a little again, his hot breath hitting my earlobe and the smooth side of his mask brushing against my temple.

He stays there for a few seconds, his chest lightly brushing mine as we breathe in and out, taking hard breaths. He then pulls away and drags his hands from the floor beside my head to lightly hold onto my shoulders. His jagged, evil grin fades to a soft frown.

"If you find that I'm lying to you about my reasoning, I'll come with you willingly. You can lock me up in a cell, I promise it to you."

My breath catches in my throat, and the civil war inside my head is being won by the side I've been trying to drown out this whole time. Although, the war isn't over. I feel another battle would have to take place to end this feud.

"Fine." I feel myself saying, but I can't believe it. "I'll give you one more chance, but I'll hold you to that promise."

"I wouldn't expect any different from you." He grins. I meet his eyes a little skeptically still. The moralistic side of me is a sore loser.

"Can I get up now?" I pout.

"Mmm, I don't know. You look good writhing around under me. Maybe I should check if you have anything else hidden up your skirt before I let you up."

I blush a little, but bite the inside of my cheek to drown the feeling side of me again. I need to keep it together. I can't even believe that I still like him at all after all of this. But.... I can't deny that the dangerous side of him is really sexy...

I shake my head to clear the thought away before my imagination runs away with the idea. 'Shut up. Quit thinking dirty thoughts.'

His grip on my shoulders tightens as he leans near my face again, looking into my eyes with a mischievous look. A smirk plays on my lips as I get an idea- hoping it will work.

"Well, I just can't stand to look at that booger in your nose anymore." I tease. Hopefully it will trick him enough to get him to lose his concentration, so I can flip him over and trap him.

His eyes shoot wide. "What?!" He jerks his hand up and smacks his mask to see if it is still on his face, but before he can realize I tricked him, I've already got him by the balls- so to speak.

I kick my legs up and make him lose his balance, his arms flailing backwards as he tries to right himself and lifting the weight off of my hands just enough to pull them out from under his knees. I shove him off of me and to my right, then swing my leg over his torso and pin his arms under my knees. I sit back on his hips a little and smirk, proud of my work. His surprised expression switches to a smug grin.

"Well I have to say, you look even better writing around on top of me."

I sigh and roll my eyes. I should have known he would say that. He tries to yanks his arms out from under me and knock me off, but I keep a firm hold on him. I yawn and cover my mouth boredly, letting him struggle for a few seconds before lifting my knees and letting him pull his hands out from under me. I lean down towards his mask with a smirk like he did to me, surprising him.

"Well, if you're not going to kill me or my family, and I can totally trust you, then I think I'm going to go to bed."

I rise back up away from his chest and cover my mouth as I yawn. I then give him one last smirk before moving my leg out from under me and placing my hands on the floor for balance. I hoist myself up and slouch forward a little, rubbing my eyes as I start to lazily walk to bed. I see Kage prop himself up on his arm and watch me with curiosity out of the corner of my eye.

I shove all of the case files back into my folder, then drop them on the floor right next to my bag. I then bend down and pick up the gun that was long dropped on the floor, put the safety on, and shove it back into my satchel before letting it drop to the floor next to the stack of papers. I keep a sharp eye on Kage but flop down onto the pillows and stretch out my body again. I twist myself and bury my face into one of them, smelling my shampoo and a hint of cinnamon and lavender.

I open an eye towards Kage as I hear the scuffling of his worn sneakers against the floor as he stands up. He saunters over to my side of the bed and places something on my nightstand, then stays there and looks at me for a second in slight confusion before heading over to the chair in the far corner of the room. I feel way too comfortable to put a blanket on, so I just nuzzle my face deeper into the pillow, feeling myself fading fast. I keep my hearing on high alert as I wrap my arm around the pillow and squeeze it, knowing that I will wake up and be ready to fight if he even moves an inch from where he is right now. I look at him one last time as his mask eyes close, forming a thine line, then props his head up on his hand and lets his shoulders relax. With a skeptical look, I finally let myself go back to the soothing darkness of my mind.


	5. Things to Change/Recap

Alright so here are a few things I saw that I didn't make clear or didn't work with the rest of the story so I changed it.

The reader will be 21.

Kagekao will be 22.

Catrina will 52.

I think the twins should stay 10 for their previous/current behavior.

Yes I know that in place for Kagekao's name there is always Kage, but there is a reason for that. It will be explained later.

Also, special thanks to all of you for reading and commenting on my stories. It is greatly appreciated and keeps me writing.


	6. So Frickin' Annoying

I yawn as I feel my eyelashes brush against the silky pillow cover smothering my face. I let out a small groan at the thought of waking up, then force myself to roll onto my back with a great amount of effort. The thought of waking up from yet another restless night filled with glimpses of nightmares and regrets sends my sleep deprived mind into hazy annoyance.

I lay my arm over my eyes to block out the sunlight streaming in through my window, then realize after a couple of seconds that I never wake up to sunlight coming through my window anymore. With furrowed brows, I turn my body a little to get a better look at my clock, muttering an annoyed, "What time is it?" as I groan sleepily.

My eye sight is a little blurry, so I reach up and gently dust away the crust at the corner of my eye, then scrunch them up and try to open them wide so I'll wake up a little more. Looking back at the clock, I almost scream when I see the time.

"Ten fucking thirty?! Why didn't the damned alarm go off?!"

I throw myself out of bed and sprint to my closet, running a hand through my slightly messy bed hair as I simultaneously practically throw my closet door off of its hinges. I wrap my fingers around the closest hangar and throw it towards the bed, then whirl around and try to jerk my blouse over my head.

Before I can fully get it over my head, I hear a creak of a floorboard behind me, which causes me to freeze up for a second and yank my shirt back down.

"Why are you in such a rush?" I hear a groggy, deep voice say from behind me.

I whip around and get ready to throw a punch, but stop myself inches in front of Kage's face as I suddenly realize that I forgot about him, and he never even went home last night.

"Get fucking lost! I swear to god if you don't get the hell out right now I will literally kill you." I growl.

"Couldn't you just figuratively kill me? I'm too tired to fight with you right now..." He smirks and fixes his crooked mask on his face before continuing. "And why are you running around, shouldn't you still be asleep?" He tries to stifle a chuckle.

I grit my teeth and my expression turns even darker. "You turned off my fucking alarm, didn't you?"

He grins and places a hand on his hip, popping it out. "I don't see why you are so mad, you got to sleep in after all; I was just looking out for your well being." He mocks me with an innocent tone, covering his mouth to stifle a yawn.

I tighten my hands into fists at my sides, then take a deep breath to calm down before I end up actually trying to kill him.

"Whatever, just leave."

"No. I don't want to."

We both stand facing each other. I give him the best death glare I can muster and stare straight into his eyes while gives me a cheeky grin. He crosses his arms and puffs out his chest a little bit, which angers me even further.

I notice that he is still wearing his hoodie from yesterday. His hair sticks out at different angles from his under hood and looks even softer than it did yesterday as it lies at awkward positions over the top edge of his mask.

I reach my hand behind me for the hangar on the bed without taking my eyes away from his, then curl my fingers around the rugged plastic and bring it up to me. In one quick move, I tuck it under my other arm and spring forward, scaring him. He tries to jump back, but before he can I grab his pull strings and yank them down. His hood closes up and he desperately tries to keep himself from losing his balance.

Without wasting any time, I turn and make a quick dash to the bathroom, then turn around to slam and lock the door once I get inside. With my breathing coming out in little short breaths, I smile smugly. I can hear him grunt through the door, then let out an annoyed growl.

I burst out laughing and let myself slide down the door until I hit the bathroom floor. He hears me, and mumbles a couple of curses just barely audible enough for me to hear, causing me to laugh harder.

I catch a little bit of my breath. "Having a little trouble there?"

"Shut the fuck up!"

I hold my stomach as I smack my hand on the floor. I'm almost can't breathe, I am laughing so hard.

All of the sudden, I hear a few small clinks and taps next to my ear. My laughter cuts off as I turn my head to glance at the keyhole under the doorknob.

With a final click, the knob twists violently. I rush forward to get out of the way, fully realizing if I stay there any longer, I won't have any advantage, seeing as I'll be pushed up against the wall with a door at my back.

"You're dead now, (Y/n)..."

I rest myself down on the top of the toilet lid and smirk at him, crossing my arms and legs and giving him a challenging look.

"Oh, and what are you gonna do- drown me in shit water?" I say cockily as I peek around the shower curtains and bathtub that put distance between me and him.

"I just might!" He states matter-of-factly with a wild look painted into the eyes of his mask. He stomps forward and takes a sharp turn right in front of me, turning so fast that the shower curtains billow out a little.

"Oh I'm so scared! Someone please help me! I am definitely going to die by the hands of this man. I'm begging you, please don't hurt me!" I mock him, looking straight up into his livid glare and biting my lip.

He snarls at me and snaps his hand out to try and grab onto my shirt, but my reflexes kick in, and I slid off of the toilet seat, moving between his legs so fast he doesn't have time to react.

He twirls around just in time to see me snatch up my clothes and slam the door shut behind me. I press my back against the door and reach up on top of the door frame, feeling around for a key. I grunt as I feel him slam the door against my back, then continue sliding the tips of my fingers along the dusty wood. I finally come upon the cold, rusty metal of my bathroom key.

I fumble for it as he hits the door again and accidentally knock it onto the floor about three feet away from me. It hits the floor with a large klang that makes Kage start pushing even harder against the door. I scoot my foot near it and stretch my toes to try and pick it up, then with a final stretch, I reach the key and slide it back over to myself.

I reach down between his forceful hits against the door and quickly grab the key, then spin and try to get the key into the small hole. In my haste, I miss the hole a few times and hit the aged and splintering wood around it.

I finally get the key into the lock and turn it in one swift motion. Then finally able to rest, I stumble back a few steps and fall back onto the bedspread again. I throw my fist in the air and let out a breathless whoop for my success.

Kage beats on the door with his fist again in annoyance and says something incomprehensible before going quiet again. Now that I'm able to get dressed without someone watching me, I pick my clothes off of the floor and slide it off of the hangar. I notice that I picked out a simple black summer dress that barely graces the tops of my knees. I decide that I should wear some shorts under it in case of wind... or worse.

I've planned to go out investigating today, so I should look as casual as I can but still look professional. I may need to talk to some of the less righteous people today for some good dirt, so I need to look as normal as possible, but it is kind of hard when you're one of the most notorious crime solvers known among the underground community. Probably because I snoop around so much in the gutter.

I slip all of my now sweaty and slightly stinking garments onto the floor and grab a tube of deodorant and my knife off of my night stand before shoving the blade back into its holster. Sliding the deodorant along my skin, I look outside curiously and judge the weather.

'It looks nice enough out there.' I think absentmindedly as I set the deodorant back on my dresser. I slip the dress over my head and pull my shorts up along my smooth shaven legs, making sure the knife avoids the little white strands at the bottom edges of my shorts. I reach for my hairbrush and comb my hair back into a sleek ponytail, then finally ready, I hop off of the bed and onto the glossy hardwood floor. I pick my satchel up and slip on some laced lined flats before walking over to the bathroom door to check up on him.

"Hey, are you alright in there? You seem awfully quiet..."

"..."

"Fine then, throw your little three year old tantrum in there. You should've just listened to me when I asked you something, idiot. Whatever, see you later then."

I half stomp over to the door, but calm down and lightly pull it shut behind me. I can hear a few loud curses from the room and chuckle.

'I hope he doesn't hate me..."

I stop for a second at the thought, then shake it out of my mind and continue to walk down the hall and through the living room towards the cafe door. I peek into the kitchen and see Catrina. She waves to me as she flips a pancake into the air and smiles brightly. I match her expression and tip toe in.

"I'm going to assume that you didn't hear the alarm go off?"

"No, I guess I just forgot to set it last night." I peek around her and see four other servers making the rounds- just making sure she didn't need any more help.

"By the way, was someone with you last night? I heard a lot of commotion when I closed up and headed to bed." I meet her smirk and bite my lip as she raises an eyebrow at me.

"Trust me, if there was, I wouldn't bring him here. Who do you think I am? I was just... rearranging things."

"Sure, whatever you say sweetie. Where are you going today? You look much more relaxed than your usual self."

"I'm out investigating today and I need to look, well, normal I guess."

"I guess you usually are anything but normal." She gives me a shifty, joking look.

"You're so mean to me... I might just disown you." I fake a pout, causing her to laugh as she catches the pancake in the pan one last time before flipping it onto a plate.

"Aw, that would make me so sad... but alright honey, I hope you find what you are looking for. Be careful, and I love you."

I lean forward and give her a light kiss on her slightly wrinkled cheek, then pull back and smile brightly.

"I will, and I love you too. See you in a few."

I give a final wave before back tracking through the door and through the living room, coming to a stop right in front of the door to the alleyway behind our house. I check my satchel to make sure I know my plan of where I'm going today, then sigh and open the door, promptly looking down each end of the alleyway before locking it behind me.

I hop down the concrete steps and avoid a large murky puddle at the end of the stairs before taking a quick left and trudging down the rest of the dirt sodden street into the oncoming sunlight.

'I'm surprised that we haven't been mugged yet, especially me.' I think to myself as I glance behind me one last time into the inky black of the alleyway and adjust the soft leather strap on my shoulder nervously. We all usually take the back alley exit if we need to avoid the heart of the crowds, seeing as our shop is in the exact center of the city- located on the corner of one of the busiest intersections there is.

I shake my thoughts away as I reach the end of the alleyway and jump into the crowd again, blending in with the rest of the people making their way to through the city.

Time Skip

I frown at the yellow crime scene tape draped across the door of apartment 4-E, the ratty old apartment that used to belong to Mark Vallie. With a swift motion, I tear a wad of the tape away so I can get inside, almost laughing as it falls from the frame without me barely even touching it. I grab the doorknob, letting my eyes scan over the edge of the door frame. It hasn't been splintered or cracked, so that knocks out forced entry.

I take a step into the room and already pick up on the ever present smell of old decaying flesh. My nose automatically wrinkles up, and I pinch it, forcing to breathe through my mouth, which almost seems like an even worse thing to do as I almost cough up a cereal bar I ate on the way here.

"God, they sure did an amazing job of disinfecting the place..." I spit as I cover my mouth, even though I know it won't do me much good. The crime scene division thinks that their job is only to get rid of the body, collect as much evidence as it takes them to get bored, and then leave.

I shut the door behind me and take a few cautious steps into the plain room. It's a basic flat, decorated sparingly with light tan furniture. I can clearly see the dark, deep set stain of blood soaked into the dark grey carpet from where I'm standing. As I move my gaze around the room I see that tiny drops of light brown blood dot the walls in semi-straight lines. I can tell that the neck was slit first; the high velocity splatter is a darker brown, and the other, lower velocity splatter is a little lighter.

I look around and find a door slightly ajar on the left side of the room. I carefully make my way across the room and peek inside. It seems to be his bedroom, and is just as sparsely decorated and plain as the living room. I take a step inside and scan the room for any kind of journal or electric device, knowing full well that I have to do my own investigating of the crime scene because of the evidence reports and the lack of effort on the crime scene investigators' part. Because, you know, they have more serious business to attend to besides helping solve a murder like a team. I roll my eyes as I continue searching.

I spot a small, leather bound notebook sticking out of his desk drawer. Heading over, I cautiously pull the drawer back a bit more so I can take the book out. I never know what kinds of things crazies are doing these days to protect their private thoughts, and better safe than sorry, even if I am going off on the information a serial killer told me. Which sounds even more idiotic when I have the time to stop and really think about it.

Without any complications, I open the drawer fully and take out the book. I hope it might be what I'm looking for, and if it is, it could either give me the proof I need to lock Kage up for good, or back him up. Either way, he would still be in a shit load of trouble. My chest constricts as I think about him being locked up in jail, but I push past it and violently unclasp the small latch at the side of the notebook and throw open the cover, skimming across the first page as I let myself slump down in the desk chair. There's nothing special about the first half of the notebook, just everyday recollections and thoughts of an average Joe. I flip to the last written pages of the book, seeing that the writing changes from on the neat side to chicken scratch littering the page, completely staying out of the lines unlike before.

I flip back about five pages and look for any signs of developing psychotic tendencies, but don't hit anything until the page that is third from the last. He states that he and Beatrice had a fight that could lead to a nasty break up. My eyes widen as I begin to see the mentally unstable sights popping up from the text as he goes on.

"I hope she forgives me on her own terms, but I really want to have her back again. Now. I LOVE her. If she can't see that, then I will just have to lock her up and show her that until she understands. I cannot bear to lose something so precious to me that I have spent so much time on. Well, I feel like getting some fresh air. I will write again tomorrow after I give her a gift of my undying love. Ta ta for now!"

"Well, it looks like Kage was right about this one... but there's still a possibility that this has been staged. Although, I do have to agree that this guy was about three sandwiches short of a picnic..."

A few pages before, I can see Mark elaborating on how he and Beatrice met. It repeatedly states that he absolutely admires and loves how she does her job, seeing as they met at the nursing home he admitted his mother to. He stated that he loved his mother, but she was a bitch for telling him that he needed to move out and live on his own. He then goes into extremely precise detail of how she mutilated his own mother, then threatened one of the oldest patients that she has, saying if she didn't clean up the mess- saying that if she didn't do it, she would torture and kill her only grandson.

I feel a shudder run throughout my whole body. "Right about this one too... but there's still one more victim to go check up on, then I should probably go see what I can do about this poor patient."

I hoist myself up from the chair and dust off the bottom of my dress then shove the notebook into an open spot in my bag. I scan the room to look for any other writing that might prove that the notebook wasn't staged, and find a crinkled grocery list on his nightstand, automatically realizing that the text is definitely the same, proving that the book wasn't staged. I let out a sigh of... relief.

With a huff, I roughly readjust the strap on my shoulder, and start to head towards the apartment door. I know I could find more evidence, but right now, with the reality of the situation dawning on me that there is time and possible lives on the line, I want to move along with this case as quickly as possible.

Taking my phone out of the side pocket of my satchel, I call up Google maps. I see that John Parker's house requires a bus ride to the Northern part of the city, so I pull up the recommended route to look for stops and arrival times.

My eyes practically bug out of my skull and I rush out of the room, flying down the stairs. The bus should be leaving the next stop in less than a minute, and no other buses will come by until two hours later.

Time Skip

After making it safely to the bus and catching up to it at the next stop, the bus ride was uneventful and long as hell, but the bright side is that I made it up to the North side in one piece.

I leave a few spare cents in the tip box and hop off onto the sidewalk with a deft nod to the driver. Scanning the street, I notice that there are very few skyscrapers around here and nicer, open spaces- even with a forested area behind the houses to the left of the street.

John Parker's house is half of a mile away from the murder site, so if Kage is telling the truth, his rituals should take place either inside the house or close to it.

I walk up the concrete pathway winding up to his front porch, eyeing the neatly cut lawn and the absence of a fence. It also looks like he had a lot of friends who loved him dearly, seeing how many stuffed animals, candles, photographs, and even old baby clothes litter the porch. I wind my way through the death maze of memorabilia and balance myself with my hand on the glass pane next to the door. I knock loudly and wait for a minute before peeking inside the window, holding my hand above my forehead to see inside better.

"It's rude to snoop."

I jump from shock and end up knocking one of the picture frames over, shattering the glass. I steady my balance and look around to find the source of the snarky comment. My eyes rest on an old lady who is around her late eighties with deep set frown lines and age spots littering her droopy face.

"I beg your pardon?" I ask a bit incredulously.

"This here be my grandson's house Missy, and you better be gettin' out of my way before I make you myself."

"Please Miss; I'm a private investigator at the police department. The case concerning the murder of your grandson is still open, and could be connected to a string of homicides." I try to reason with her, another slight headache starting up in the back of my brain. Her eyes widen so slightly, I barely even notice it, but it's still there.

"Come back with a warrant and a better attitude princess."

I grit my teeth and pinch the bridge of my nose, the headache flaring up all of the sudden.

"I have a warrant, now would you please open the door? Otherwise you won't have a front door anymore." I let my second sentence take on a rude tone as I meet the eyes of the old woman in anger.

"No."

"Let me rephrase that. Open the door, or you'll be shoved into a police car and spend a night inside a cell you old hag."

"Fine!" She growls, hobbling up the porch steps without taking her gaze away from mine. I sidestep her and receive a scoff in return, causing me to scowl at her. I'm all for respecting the elderly, but this old dust bag doesn't deserve any respect at all.

'I'm kind of glad that her family line will be cut a little shorter... You can take rats out of the sewers and put them in a nice little neighborhood, but rats will always be rats.'

The woman rummages through her small handbag and jerks a large key chain out of it. There has to be at least twenty keys that look practically identical. She starts with the cleanest one first and tries it in the door. I can see her crinkled lips curve up into an almost unnoticeable sinister smirk.

I shake my head and grit my teeth again as I realize she's doing it on purpose.

"I suggest you pick up the pace ma'm."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll open the door myself in a less delicate way ma'm."

"Fine, dear. Don't get your panties in a twist, I'm moving as fast as my frail old bones can handle~." She says with a mocking tone.

"Maybe I should snap a few of those frail bones in two then?" I take a step towards the woman and give her a threatening look.

She frowns, then turns to a dirt crusted, green tinted copper key. I watch over her shoulder like a hawk as she slides the key into the door and turns it without any sudden movements. She steps in and holds the door open for me.

"All yours except the room on the back left of the upstairs hallway. That's my personal room, so stay out!"

"Thank you for your hospitality..." I tiredly sigh.

"Any time, dear. Any time."

She turns and disappears down a long corridor, back into the darkness of the hallway.

'I should be careful...' I look around the main entryway with wary eyes as I pull the door shut behind me. I automatically noticed something wrong with the house from the first breath I took. It smells like there has been an excessive amount of perfume or odor remover sprayed around the house and on the furniture around me, and more that what would be considered normal. I almost gag at how much it clouds the air around me and puts a leaden weight in my lungs, scratching at my throat.

I make my way through the rooms on the first floor and head up to the second. The oppressive smell gets even stronger up here, which causes me to sneeze suddenly. The initial surprise from it causes me to stumble back a little as my feet lose some of their balance, pushing the fabric at the edge of the large throw rug on the floor back with my shoe.

I shake my head vigorously to clear my sinuses, then open my eyes back up. I look down towards my feet and feel surprised when I see a small rectangular hatch in the floor. I look around to see if the old woman is anywhere near me, then reach towards it.

I brush my fingers along the small ridge in the wooden floor, which unlike the other planks around them, are splintered and scratched from recent and frequent use. I pull my hand away with a curious expression, then reach past the hatch to throw the rest of the thick, heavy throw rug away from the rest of the hatch.

I flip the latch holding it in place and pull the heavy wood up along its hinges. There isn't a speck of light to allow me to see, and even when I squint my eyes and hold a hand over my brow, I can still barely see anything. I look around me again, then reach into my back pocket to pull out the familiar rectangular shape of my phone. I hit the power button, causing the screen to flicker to life and illuminate the small dark room. The inside isn't very special, with only a few dusty tables and couches covered in torn white sheets.

I let out an almost disappointed sigh as I slide the wood panels back into place. I yank the rug back over the small door and pick myself back up off of the floor.

'I should go investigate the rest of the rooms...'

Time Skip

I head out of the last room at the end of the hallway with an annoyed huff of air. I have already checked all of the other rooms and it amounted to absolutely nothing- not even a hint of this guy ever having any sort of affiliation with a cult sacrificing children. I sigh and lean against the door frame.

"Nothing. How can there literally be nothing suspicious in a so called cult leader's house...? He must be lying to me." I growl as I trail my fingers through the stray hairs sticking out from the edges of my ponytail.

"Oh dear," I hear a sarcastic voice spit, "It seems like you have nowhere else to search for clues. Oh what a pity." The old hag mocks me.

"Well, no. I still have to check the land behind your house, and the room you specifically told me not to go into."

"Just give it up, Missy. My grandson ain't nothin' but an angel."

I roll my eyes and shove off from the door frame, then cross my arms in front of my distastefully. "Oh please... spare me..." I half whisper to myself with disdain, a scoff slipping through my lips.

"Come again you little bitch?!"

"Excuse me? Oh I'm sorry, you don't have your hearing aids in do you? I'm truly sorry, the only thing I know in sign language is this-" I slam my hand on my bicep and point my middle finger up towards the ceiling. I've had quite enough of this shit.

"You'll regret ever dishonoring the memory of my beautiful little grandson! Now get out of this house or I'll kill ya!" She growls threateningly and pulls a baseball bat from the inside wall of an open room to her right. She swings hard and fast- just missing my chest as I step back to avoid the blow, dumbfounded that she could even swing the bat that hard at me.

"I said git!"

I drop to the floor as she swings again, surprising her and throwing off her focus. In the moment she hesitates I shoot forward, tackling her to the ground in front of me. Her eyes bug out and she wheezes out a puff of air as I slam her back against the ground, the bat falling to the planks with a clatter.

I flip her around in one swift move, then push her face into the floor as I swing my leg around her back and pull her arms behind her back to cuff her.

"You have the right to remain silent. If you do say anything, it can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have a lawyer present during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to you if you so desire."

"Why the hell are you arresting me?!"

"Aggravated assault, attempted murder, and harassment."

She growls at me as the cuffs snap tightly around my wrist and I pull my phone out of my pocket again, calling the office.

"Hello? Yes, I need a squad care here for an arrest. Pinpoint the location of this phone and pick this one up. I have her cuffed and secure." My eyes shift down to the old woman again.

I haul the both of us up as the woman on the other end confirms my location. I start walking her down the hallway and down the stairs, setting her down on a couch in the room adjacent to the main entryway.

"Yes, and I am also making a request for a search party of at most five individuals to scale the property and at least a mile into the woods behind the house. I have reason to believe there is sacrificial cult activity in the vicinity using abducted children. Thank you then, I'll leave her here for you. I'm going home."

I make sure that the woman is secure to a heavy work desk next to the couch before hoisting myself up and starting to head out the door.

"Hope you have fun in your new five star cell back at the station."

"Get fucked bitch."

And with that and a smirk, I close the door behind me and head home.

Yet Another Time Skip

I stumble in through the back door of my house and haphazardly kick my shoes off of my feet as I twist the lock on the door behind me with a practiced flick of my wrist.

I comb the fly away pieces of hair in front of my face then trudge over to the open kitchen door, then hop up on the recently cleaned counter. I stretch my legs out in front of me then slump back against the overhead cabinets with a sigh.

"God damn I'm tired."

I half open one eye and peer across the room at a small wine cabinet in the back corner, pressed right up against the wall. I slide back off of the counter and walk over to it, stopping just in front of it to scan all of the wines and misplaced bottles of Bourbon and Schnapps.

In all honesty, I can't believe I haven't drank even a sip of wine since the day I turned 21. I smile to myself as I remember trying a drink of half of the wines and still wasn't even drunk after sharing a bottle of whiskey with Catrina. Not even the slightest hint of the headache the next morning either, but I can't say the same for Cat.

My favorite wine stands at the back of the cabinet: Soft Rosé. I weave my hand through an array of other dust covered bottles and grasp the neck of the large glass bottle. I pull it out carefully over the tops of the other bottles and the hanging wine glasses towards the front of the cabinet.

When I finally get it out, I hold it carefully in both of my hands like a baby. Another brief memory flashes through my mind of clinking glasses with Catrina and sipping at my first glass while Catrina downed the whole thing in one gulp. Then again, it's no wonder she had a massive hangover the next morning.

I chuckle as I cut the seal at the top of the bottle with a wine opener and twist the auger into the cork. It comes out of the bottle with a satisfying pop, releasing the sweet smell of the wine into the air. I place the opener on the table and turn the bottle up to my chapped lips, letting the sweet, burning sensation roll past my tongue and warm my throat.

I moan in satisfaction then hold the bottle at my side. "Now I think a nice hot bath is long overdue..." I yawn out. Maybe it is a bad idea to be tired, drinking wine, and taking a bath at the same time, but hell, it'll feel good, and I quite frankly don't give a fuck right now.

As I make my way back to my room, I can feel the wine settling in the pit of my stomach, warming me up even more as I hold onto the smooth, cold surface of the bottle. I open my bedroom door softly. The twins could be asleep by now, although I seriously doubt it, however I don't want bloodthirsty 10 year old kids on my hands either way.

Shutting the door with a soft click, I walk in, and set the wine on my bedside table. I get a small feeling in the back of my mind that I'm forgetting something, but shove it away with the comforting thought of my bath.

I pull my dress back over my head and throw it on the bed, my bra quickly joining it. I slide my shorts down and off of my hips, then kick them into the air to catch them and throw them back onto the bed with the rest of the tossed clothing. I decide to keep my underwear on for now and turn to take my wine bottle with me, stopping to take another swig before heading to the bathroom.

I feel my cheeks glowing a soft pink as I yawn again and unconsciously stretch my free arm up in the air to pop it, then let it come to rest on the back of my neck, sliding slowly down my chest and side until it brushes against my hip again. I walk into the bathroom door and lock it behind me, then put the plug into the bathtub drain and twist the hot tap on.

A light, tickly feeling of nostalgia dances across my skin as I remember the baths my mom used to give me when I was young. I would love to throw bubbles into the air and try to catch them in my tiny palms, almost always catching a stray bubble on my nose, making her laugh as I let out a string of tiny sneezes. A light grin plays on my lips at the memory, successfully pushing away the feelings of loss and sorrow, which I have learned to deal with for the past five years of my life.

I slide the hair band out of the soft, slightly messy ponytail I have up and set it on the counter, threading my fingers through my hair to get any of the small knots and tangles with gentle pulls of my fingertips.

When I hear the water drain at the top of the tub start to gurgle as the waterline reaches the maximum height, I turn it off and pour some bubble path cream from the side of the tub into the water, mixing it up with my hand. I tug my underwear down my hips with my other hand, then throw them into the hamper in the corner without looking up.

Sliding into the bath carefully, I lower myself into the warm, bubbly water. With a comfortable sigh, the steam from the water caresses the sides of my face with its delicate touch, causing me to close my eyes and lean back, finally at peace.

"Wow... I... you really have a nice figure..."

My eyes snap open, a growl tearing from my throat as I realize what that tiny little thought in the back of my mind was trying to remind me of- this damned uninvited pest of a man... thing.

"Kage, you fucking asshole, get out of my bathroom before I use your fucking balls as a stress reliever- and I have a whole lotta pent up stress and an insanely strong grip- not to mention sharp nails." I dangerously snarl as I move my gaze around the room to figure out where he is.

Sure enough, I find him peeking out from behind the shower curtain bunched up on the railing towards the end of the bathtub.

He jumps slightly as I meet his slightly fearful gaze, then a slightly nervous mischievous smirk curves at the corner of his painted mouth. "Oh dear, I think she spotted me..."

"Get the FUCK OUT!" I yell as I glower up at him.

"But you practically invited me in... and there's no way in hell I'm not gonna take the opportunity to see you standing naked in front of me- waaaay too good of an opportunity."

"FUCK OFF!" I snap at him as I splash some water up at him, to which he quickly blocks with the curtain in front of him, the beads of water trailing right back down into the tub.

"Mmm, I wanna play a game, I guess your size, and if I get it right I pick out your bra for tomorrow?" He playfully smirks as he peeks back around the curtain, testing which of my buttons to push.

I grit my teeth and scrunch my eyes shut, then grab the neck of the bottle of wine and down a few gulps before slamming it back down on the tile and slipping my head under the water to avoid talking to Kage.

My hair wisps across my face and neck under the warm water, and I feel my sleepiness getting even worse with little spots of color blinking behind my eyelids calming me, as well as my breath running out. It has almost been a minute, and usually I can go about two and a half without passing out, which is a skill we have to learn as a field agent; in case someone tries to strangle us.

I let my head pop up above the water right down to my nose, glaring across the tiny leftover bubbles and up at Kage, who has pulled the curtain to the side a little more, and has his head propped up on his elbow cockily.

"34 C."

I roll my eyes and reach my toes out of the water, pulling the curtain shut right in front of where his face is.

"36 C."

"You're a fucking idiot and I hate you."

"I thought you liked following the rules, so why are you lying to me?" He jerks the curtain back and out from between my toes with accusative, squinted half moon eyes.

"I'm not lying, I hate you. So much." My eyes flick to the right on accident, and I curse myself. Every time I do that, it's like my body is saying, "your mouth doesn't agree with your heart", and my brain literally rolls my eyes without my consent.

I lean my head back on the corner of the tub and close my eyes, taking a deep breath through my nose, and exhaling out most of my motivation to get out of the bath or even talk to Kage.

"Well, I'll have to do something about that then."

"Uh... huh..." I force out of my mouth, my voice drawing out my consonants sleepily.

"You know I already know what bra size you are. I looked through your underwear drawers while you were gone."

"...cool..."

"(Y/n)?"

I hum at him in response. His worried tone wakes me up just enough to respond, but I feel myself slipping. I feel so distant, and my head keeps nodding off to the side. I feel my muscles getting weaker and weaker by the second, and my mind fights to pry my eyes open again, but I already too far gone.

All I see is the blurry outline of Kage's terrified expression and his faint voice saying something I can't quite hear.

Kage's POV

"(Y/n)? (Y/n)?!" I yell at her as she becomes unresponsive to everything I do or say. I shoot off of the toilet seat and kneel next to her in the bath, my heart pounding in my ears. With my heightened hearing, I can tell that her heartbeat is shallow and fluttery, and her breath is way too soft and spaced out to be normal. Her lips are cracked and dry, and her skin pigment is dull.

"Dehydration..." I mumble to myself. My eyes search around her face in a flurry of movement as I try to decide what to do. If I just leave her here, there is a very high chance that she will drown.

I purse my lips under my mask and pull my hoodie up over my head in a quick movement, then throw it down beside me. I clench and unclench my fists nervously before dipping my hands beneath the water, wrapping my arms around her back and underneath her legs. The sloshing sound of water rings sharply through my ears, and the water tugs at her skin as I pull her up. I avert my eyes from her as much as possible, then drape my hoodie over her and set her down upon my knees for a second.

I pull the plug at the bottom of the tub, then take the same hand and twist her dripping hair around my palm, wringing out any excess water as I hold her wet, hot body against my naked chest.

Strongly resisting every urge within me, I pull my hoodie over her head and put her arms through, my hand resting at the soft place at her hip once I'm done. I jerk in surprise as she nuzzles into my neck, her eyelashes fluttering at my cool hand against her side. A hot breath hisses out of my mouth through clenched teeth as she presses her plump lips against the hot skin of my neck, but nonetheless pull her up into my arms with a great amount of restraint.

"You... do know that there are so many unmentionable things anyone could do to you now in this state..." I grab the wine bottle left on the floor between my fingers, her hair swinging over her shoulder and dripping cool water down onto my exposed chest. I whimper at the feeling, but trudge forward and unlock the door, then make my way out of the bathroom.

"...some of those things incredibly tempting- you don't even know the half of it..." I growl out as the soft curve of her hip slips down a little and brushes over the zipper of my pants. I quickly readjust her in my arms, then set the wine bottle down on her nightstand.

"...but I'm carrying you off to bed, and worrying about you instead..." I exhale as I fall down onto the bed, pulling her with me so she lands on top of my body instead of the other way around. If it had happened that way, I think I might have gone insane with want.

I roll over and place her down, then trudge over to the bathroom and fill up a glass of water. I look up to myself in the mirror. I'm a panting, disheveled mess, and my pants look two sizes too small now.

I set the cup on the counter and lean on my palms, my eyes shutting as my head falls to look down towards the floor. "...What have you done to me...?" I mumble. "If you end up trying to arrest me... I'll have to kill you... I know that, so why...?" I press my hand to my chest in confusion. Something tugs at my air and leaves me feeling like my chest is hollow and empty. I raise my hand to my forehead and look up at the mirror, then to her, then back down to the floor again.

"What have I gotten myself into....?"

I let out a hard sigh, then pick up the cup again and make my way back over to her bed. I slide my hand behind her head and lift it up a little, then put the small cup against her lips and pour some of the liquid into her mouth. It wets her lips and makes them look like how they usually do: normal, plump, and pink.

I sit down by her side and brush a few stray hairs from her face. I jerk my hand away once I realize the sentimentality that an action like that entails, then cross my arms together to make sure I don't do it again.

I can't say that I'm terribly bored with her after all. Not with her amusing quips and threats, and not to mention the reactions she gives me when I tease her. My eyes flick down to her gently closed eyelids and the peaceful expression on her face. I turn my head to look at the time on her alarm clock, but quickly forget about the time when I see the wine bottle again.

I pick up the wine bottle and hold it lightly in my hand, reading the label and sniffing at the rim of the bottle. With a light shrug and a fleeting look towards (Y/n), I tilt the bottle back with the intent on finishing the rest of the bottle, even though she has only had about a quarter of it.

"I'll take this as my reward for being nice to you..." I mutter. The only response I get is a soft, tired groan.

Your POV

My eyes crack open, cutting off a nightmare that I can hardly remember. I blink away the blurriness in my eyes and reach my hand up to rub my temples. I feel the soft pinch of a headache in the back of my mind. I feel confused for some reason, but as I stare into the soft sheets of my bed, I suddenly realize that I'm not waking up in the bath, where I was definitely supposed to be when I woke up. I'm also shocked to see a baggy black hoodie hanging off of my shoulders.

"What... the hell?" I grumble.

"Oh, hey sleeeeping beauuuty. You're finallllly awaaake."

I turn my head to look behind my back, and do a double take as I see Kage lying on his side facing me with a bit of a smug look. My eyes go wide as I smell the alcohol on his breath, then seem to get even wider as I notice the lack of clothing on his upper body. My mind bypasses the absence of a shirt though as I look over him to see the empty bottle of Rosé on the stand. My mouth falls open in devastation, and I look down at Kage accusatively.

All of the sudden, I feel a cool breeze hit my legs as the air conditioning kicks on, and I realize that I definitely don't have anything on under this hoodie. It overpowers my sadness over the empty bottle as the little aches and pains that I had been having flare up, and I feel sore all over, but my brain automatically jumps to "oh god did we... what?" I check for nonexistent marks with wary eyes.

"What the hell did we do Kage?"

"What... you talking about?" He says sleepily. The alcohol on top of that doesn't help him whatsoever in formulating coherent sentences.

"Did we...?" I flick my eyes about the room embarrassedly, motioning with my hands to imply what I'm talking about.

He stares at me confusedly before smiling and rising up from the bedspread to meet my gaze and get close to my face.

"Did we fuck, you mean?" He mischievously grins. "Of course we did... you don't remember?"

 

A/N: (THIS IS AS OF 1/21/17) The next chapter starts off differently because I haven't rewritten alllllll of these chapters yet, so DON'T BE CONFUSED if the beginning of the next page doesn't make any sense.


	7. Changing Conditions

A/n: Okay, so this could practically count as three whole chapters, and I would split it up into two, but Devianart is a bitch and horrible for inserting chapters between other chapters and quite frankly I don't want to deal with it, so I leave it as is. It's just an... extremely long chapter. Yep. Hope you are enjoying the rewrite so far!

Gore/Sensitive material warning within the text. Language warning. S'bout it.

Also, I would rather you read this on Quotev or Wattpad for a better reading experience, just because I like to bold and italicize things a lot usually, so here are the links: https://www.quotev.com/story/6295509/Snooping-Kagekao-x-Reader  
https://www.wattpad.com/131607807-snooping-kagekao-x-reader-changing-conditions

 

"Did we fuck, you mean?" He mischievously grins. "Of course we did... you don't remember?"

A glint of something flashes through his eyes that causes me to look at him suspiciously, not trusting what he says. 'I'm not that sore... at least I don't think I am...' He places a light hand on my knee, which causes me to jerk my eyes up to him in surprise.

"Mmmh, and what with all of those positions we tried? You even passed out on me and left me hanging, or should I say standing..." He smirks and places the top of his mask against my forehead.

"You're fucking with me..." I say incredulously.

"Well, not right now, but we could go again if you want."

He raises his hand a little to rest it on my shoulder, thumbing the soft spot between my collarbone and neck.

He stares into my wide, confused eyes for a few more seconds before bursting out laughing. My eyes shoot wide as he leans back a little and falls back onto the bedspread from laughing too hard.

"You fucker. I hate you." I half laugh, half growl.

He starts laughing even louder, which causes me to shake my head and roll my eyes, trying to hide a small grin from appearing on my lips.

"Aah, your face... haha that was priceless."

"You're such a prick. What really happened?"

"Mmm, you passed out in the tub, and I couldn't let you drown. You miiiiight say that I could just unplug the drain and let you sleep there, but you'd kiiiiiill your back."

I notice that he's still super tipsy, so he's not faking there. "So then why the hell were you in the bathroom with me?"

He turns to face me a little more, looking up into my eyes. "Well, I wanted to scaaaare you because of this morning, but when I saw you were naked... I forgot about it, 'cuz I saw how ffffucking sexy you were."

I blush furiously and tug the hoodie down past my hips even more. A crooked, embarrassed smile works its way onto my face.

"Oh, but don't worry... I didn't do anything to you when I pulled you out. I even took off my hoodie to cover you... and I never everrrr take off my hoodie in front of other people..."

"T-thanks..."

"No problem."

I look over at the alarm clock, the glowing numbers reading 7:12 am. I bite my lip and roll it between my teeth a little as I look down into his eyes thoughtfully. He stares up at me with a light smile on his mask for a second, before sitting back up and moving close to my face again. I don't move away, but I do tense up.

His eyes are noticeably half lidded from lack of sleep and alcohol, but something genuine flashes through his painted eyes. He smiles playfully, then raises his mask a little and jerks forward onto my lips. My eyes go wide, but I still don't pull away as I feel his unusually soft lips against mine for a brief second. He then ends it as quickly as he started it and he pulls away with a small smacking noise.

He turns and adjusts his mask again before pushing himself off of the bed and over into the bathroom. I look after him, shocked and confused.

He turns to look back at me with a soft look just as he places his hand on the door to close it. "I'll give you some privacy. Do you... have any Advil in your cabinet? I feel the alcohol... coming back to my head now..." He winces a little, and places his hand on his temple.

"Yeah... there should be some in the cabinet behind the mirror. Just push it once and it should pop open."

"Thanks." He murmurs as he smiles again, then closes the bathroom door behind him with a soft click.

I stare at the bathroom door for a minute with confusion before breaking my trance and pursing my lips. I run deft fingertips over them before throwing my legs off of the bed and scratching my head with the tips of my nails in a small sigh. With a slow movement, I pull the hoodie over my head then fold it haphazardly and place it next to me.

I yawn loudly and pop my back and neck, then grab my bra from the end of the bed and slide it back on, hooking the small clasp at the back and snapping the straps against my skin for good measure.

Feeling much more refreshed, I push myself up onto the pads of my feet and make my way over to my closet with a bit of a spring in my step. Today I need to check up on that patient at the nursing home, and then I think I'm going to visit that bar that Kage mentioned he worked at. If I can find anything he was lying to me about, I can at least pin that on him. Though truthfully, I'm not too sure I can find something he has lied to me about yet... well, except the contents of our evening last night, anyway.

I slide a pair of boxer cut underwear up my legs and feel little stubbly hairs along them, making me wish I had taken more of a decent bath last night. I then slide on a white button up shirt and fish out a pair of black jeans to slide up and over my underwear.

Once I'm sure I am fully clothed, I walk over to the bathroom door and lightly knock on it a couple of times. Kage opens the door just a crack, so I push it the rest of the way open. He is sitting on the counter with a small plastic cup of water in one hand and the other resting on the side of his mask with a pained look on its features.

"I uh... had been meaning to ask you something. Why do you keep your mask on in front of me? I've seen your face before, so why?"

Kage looks up at me with a peeved expression and winces at his sudden movement. I move towards the sink, but keep my attention focused on him as I move. Suddenly he slams his hand down on the counter and jumps off of it with a glare. I give a small start, and stare at him with wide, questioning eyes.

"That's none of your business." He downs the rest of his water and slams the cup down on the counter next to his hand. I give him a small questioning glare, then turn back to what I'm doing.

"Fine. Go on and have your bipolar mood, Kage." I mumble mostly to myself. He whips around at my comment with a scowl coating his mask- the edges of his frown becoming slightly jagged- and holds his fist in front of his face.

"My name is not KAGE!" He roars at me. "I don't want to tell you, so just leave me alone!"

"Excuse you, but I could fucking ask you the same thing! You've been rooming out in my apartment for what, almost two days now? You care for me all you want and I don't get mad, but when I finally fucking open up to you and show I at least care a little bit about getting to know you better, I get my head fucking bit off!" I yell right back at him.

He opens his mouth like he is going to scream something else at me, but his expression freezes, then pales as his anger fades away.

"I... sorry... I didn't-...I'm sorry." He averts his eyes from me and places his hand back on his head.

"...It's fine. I didn't expect you to get so angry with me about it." I say a little flabbergasted. Why did I just say that? I usually never let anybody know anything that is bothering me... so why...?

"It's just that my head's killing me, and I can't think straight. I'm... really sorry though. That's no way to treat you- no way to speak to you."

A flash of sadness and a memory goes through his eyes. The years of watching people's body language and expressions really pays off when I discern his expressions, and I can't be more thankful for it. He looks like he is going to say something else, but he shakes his head and turns back around, trudging over to the bed and pulling his hoodie on with a distant, somber expression.

I look after him worriedly. I must have asked something pretty serious for him to react like that. I turn back to my task of getting ready, though my eyes keep returning to his form lying down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

I apply a small amount of makeup and perfume then fix my hair a bit and brush my teeth quickly. I grab a small cloth from under my sink and run it under some cool water, then ring it out and fold it up before walking back into the other room. Grabbing my shoes and socks, I then make my way over to the bed, sitting down next to Kage. I place a hand on his shoulder, then watch as he "opens" one eye to look up at me questioningly.

"Here, you can put it on your forehead after I leave. It'll help with a little bit of the pain." Kage takes the washcloth and nods his head in reply. I then turn and pull on my socks and shoes before turning back around to him.

"I'll be back later, okay? Take care of yourself."

"Mmm-hmmm." He groans out.

I shake my head amusedly at him and head towards the door. I hear him roll over and moan, and can't stop myself from thinking that he deserves it for drinking my favorite bottle of wine, but then again I know how he feels right now, and I wouldn't wish for it to happen to my worst- no, just some of my enemies. The rest deserve worse than an extreme hangover.

I close the door as quietly as I can and walk through the living room, noticing two little lumps under a large navy blanket and TV playing reruns of Tom and Jerry with a low volume.

I move past them and head into the kitchen, grabbing some Lucky Charms out from a top cupboard along with a white bowl. Placing them both on the counter, I grab a carton of milk from the refrigerator and turn back to the cereal. I smile as little tinking noises come from the bowl as I pour the cereal into it, my stomach growling at the thought of eating.

I twist the cap off of the small milk jug and pour it sloppily into the bowl, almost sloshing it over the rim and onto the counter, which makes me sigh as I realize how lucky I am to not have gotten any on my pants.

I raise my foot up and nudge open the drawer below me, then reach down and grab a spoon out of it, letting it drop into my bowl before slamming the drawer shut again with my foot. Scooping a spoonful of colored marshmallows into my mouth, I groan in approval, and quickly finish off the rest of the bowl.

Placing it into the sink to be washed, I head back out of the kitchen door and stop in front of the couch. I push back the heavy navy blue blanket and kiss Ella and Evan on the head while they sleep before tucking the blanket around them.

"I love you guys. I'll see you later. Tell Cat I love her too if you can hear me." I laugh softly before moving around the couch and grabbing my satchel as well as my umbrella. I think it is supposed to rain today from what I can remember from watching the news last night, but I'm not quite sure.

I open the back door with a creak, shut it back, and lock it. I then try the handle one last time to make sure before I leave. Walking briskly out of the alley way, I try to avoid leftover puddles and dirt.

Rainy days are when the thugs come out to do some unfinished dealing. My alleyway seems like it would be the ideal place for them to hang out, but I haven't really seen any around since moving here. Maybe it's because it's in the heart of the city, but I seriously doubt it. It also could be that they're scared of me, but that doesn't mean that they won't choose today to be the day that they man-up and swing by.

I walk out onto the open sidewalk and smell the damp, humid air of an oncoming storm, now able to because the air here is lacking the smothering stench of dirt and trash. I take a deep breath of the air and look around me. Not many people get up this early for work on a weekend, but there are still a select few meandering around the city.

I flag down a taxi and walk off of the curb to it, then hop in and tell the driver the location of the nursing home. He nods and takes off at a slow pace.

It doesn't take but five minutes in the taxi to get there, and I pay the driver what I owe him plus tip. He nods and bids me a friendly farewell before taking off to find another customer. I then walk up the sidewalk to the nursing home, peering at the fenced in grass areas on either side of the walkway warily as I make my way up to the door.

I move my hand to my pocket and let it hover over my phone. I know I probably should call the station for backup, but if Kage is wrong, or the diary is wrong, I'll never hear the end of it, and I'll end up being the most hated person in the city.... again....

I move my hand away from the phone and shake my head. I can take care of myself, I'll be fine. Reaching the large wooden door of the home, I press a small buzzer near the door and fold my hands in front of my hips to wait.

An irritated voice crackles through a speaker near the buzzer after only a few seconds of waiting.

"What does one a you want with us now? Ye need nothin' in here."

"I'm here to visit an old friend of mine... quite literally." I calmly say to the open air. It's hard to know where to look when you are talking to a disembodied voice.

I wonder to myself as she quiets down on the other end if she is just like Beatrice- hostile and brutal, full of a type of hatred that no normal person could even begin to understand. I also would like to think that someone would have noticed the slaughter of one of the patients, so either this place is running some type of horrible operation, or both Kage and Mark Vallie have lied.

"Fine, whatever, just go." She growls through the shotty speaker. It distorts her gravelly voice even more to where it sounds almost inhuman and makes my shoulders tense up a little in response.

The door clicks and a green light flashes near the knob, signaling for me to open it. I give one last look around the door as I prop it open with my foot, only to find a camera right above the doorway. I smirk into the camera, and laugh a little when I hear her try to lock the door on me again.

Pushing open the door, the invasive smell of crushed daisies and cleaning fluid burns through my airway. I've never liked being in hospitals or health treatment places; they can never mask the ever present smell and feeling of death. I push through another set of doors, and walk up to a help desk with an older woman standing behind it. She smiles kindly through crinkled eyes and gives me a slight nod in greeting.

"Ah, hello. I'm looking for a patient by the name of Kalyna. What room might she be in?"

"Room 207; just down that hallway to your left dear." She says with her smile fading a little bit.

"Thank you so much. Um, I also need the files of a woman who used to work her by the name of Beatrice Sellhorn?"

I see her somewhat genuine smile shatter into a crooked fake, although it is almost impossible to spot with how practiced it seems. She holds up a finger and turns around to sift through some files. She licks her finger to separate the pages as she turns them, and after a minute, she turns around suddenly, making me jump back.

"Oh dear, sorry about that sweetie! I didn't mean to scare you. Here are what we have left of her files. I'm assuming this has to do with her death? Poor girl, so young- such a tragic loss for all of us. Anyway, don't let me keep you, dear."

"Thank you ma'am. I appreciate your kindness and cooperation."

She nods politely as I turn to walk down the hallway to my left. I open the small file and flip through some of the pages. I'm surprised to see two accounts of arson, attempted robbery, and attempted murder. No one like that would be hired here unless something dark was going on.

In no time I reach door 207. Knocking a couple of times, I hear the creak of bedsprings and heavy footsteps walking towards the door. It opens only a crack, causing a chilly breeze of air to push through it as it opens and chill my whole body. A sick sense of dread floods through me, but I shove it down in order to keep a clear head. I can hear heavy, offbeat breaths from behind the door. My dread kicks in a bit more and I feel myself stepping back a bit, but I still hold my ground in front of the door.

 

Gore and Sensitive Material Ahead.

 

"Um, hello? Ms. Kalyna, I'm here to ask you a few questions about your previous nurse here? Could I please come in?"

The breathing freezes and my eyes go wide as a wrinkled, bloodied hand shoots out from the crack between the door and the door frame, clamping down on my mouth with as strength I find almost hard to believe is behind an old, malnourished woman's hand. I squeak, and try to jerk back as another hand reaches out and digs into my arm. I try to move back and away from the door, but the hold is strong, and I am pulled into the room.

The door slams shut with an explosive bang that practically leaves my ears ringing, and the room is pitch left pitch black; the only exception is a tiny shred of light leaking in through a curtained window that seems to be boarded up. The floor feels like shaggy, thin strings of cheap carpet, but the tiny bits of fabric feel like they have had something thick and sticky spilled in copious amounts all over where I'm standing, making the floor feel hard and crunchy in areas now that it’s dry.

The lock on the door is turned with a soft click that sends my mind into even more of a flurry. My eyes flit around the room, trying to find my bag or Ms. Kalyna with my exit practically cut off. If I get to my bag, I can have a gun to defend myself, but if I find her, I can render her immobile. I try to quiet my short, shuddery breaths as much as I can to pinpoint her location, but it proves unnecessary as she lays a soft hand on my cheek with what sounds like a cross between a sob and a laugh of happiness. It makes me hesitate.

"Oh my god.... you truly are here to save me..." An incredulous, raspy voice whispers.

"Ms. Kalyna?"

"Yes! I have been waiting for someone to show up and help me get out of here. They have tortured me for years... and they even killed my grandson... my only little grandbaby…” her voice suddenly fills with horror, “to think, I almost stabbed you..." She hiccups. Her hand feels wet, like she has been wiping tears away from her face, and a small part of my wants to pull away, but the rest of me makes me place my hand over hers and slightly squeeze it for reassurance.

"We need to get you to the nearest hospital. Hold on; let me call an ambulance here. Do you have any idea as to how many other patients are here with you?" My voice quivers slightly with fear, and my words sound practiced, but she still sounds so hopeful.

"They killed Aaron yesterday, from the B ward... so there should be twelve of us left in all. Another arrival is scheduled to come in tomorrow."

"Oh shit..." I mutter to myself in complete shock, my eyes cast down to the floor. "I... I should have come here yesterday. I could have... I could have..."

I snap myself out of my shock and grab my phone from my back pocket, smashing my finger down on the power button so I can’t let my nerves get to me. The screen blinks to life and illuminates her face. I almost scream in terror, covering my mouth just in time and stumbling back across the floor to hit the bedpost, shaking my head in disbelief.

Ms. Kalyna is covered head to toe in dried, cakey blood. Her teeth are jagged and broken; however she smiles with what she has left, with her bloodied, half torn lip limply resting along the lower left side of her chin. Her right eyeball is shredded and hanging out of the socket only by a small shred of torn muscle that allows the eye to bounce up and down as she moves. I gag as the smell reaches me. I don't know why I didn't notice it before, but the pungent smell of excrement and vomit lingers on her frail, battered body. Not to mention the powerful stench of blood.

I cover my mouth to keep from gagging, but the feeling goes away slightly when I see her filthy, tear stained cheeks crinkled up with pure hope and joy as she stares longingly out of the boarded up window, the one tiny shred of light leaking through gracing her features.

I violently shake my head to get out of my trance, throwing my hand behind me to rest on the bedpost for support. I slam my thumb down on the emergency direct contact to the police department, then hold it up to my ear and close my eyes, taking a few shuddery breaths before the line connects.

"Hello Ms. (L/n), what have you done now?" A voice monotonously drawls on the other end.

"I'm at the nursing home on Eighty Fifth and Crossman investigating the case you gave me. There were suspicions concerning this place so I went to check it out- oh screw it, just get here. It's a code red- I repeat. A code red."

"A code red? No, there's never been anything as serious as-"

"Get here now, or I'll dig up every little secret that this department has and hook it up to play in a continuous loop through every goddamn screen in this goddamned city you blundering fucking fool. Get here now." I snarl in a hushed tone.

I hit the end button on my phone and hit my home button to illuminate the room with the brighter image on the screen: a picture of all four of us- Cat, Ella, Evan and I- as black silhouettes against a vivid sunset, all hugging each other in a line and facing away from the camera.

I take a step forward to reach out to Ms. Kalyna, but I stop in my tracks, horror evident on our already terror stricken faces. Three booming knocks sound through the room, spaced out and eerie.

"Amelia~" a woman drawls out in a demonic purr. I hear the clicking of her nails against the door handle as she tries and fails to open the locked door, "have you taken care of the pest yet? She was worth your youngest daughter's legs- did you know her passion in life is to run? Poor girl... because of you, she might not fulfill her dreams~"

Ms. Kalyna turns to me fearfully. I can hear the woman's long nails impatiently tapping against the metal knob again like the ominous ticking of a clock hand that is anxiously counting down to the time that our lives will end.

I know she can see me from across the room as my face is illuminated by my phone. She looks over to me for some kind of reassurance. I hold my hand out in front of me and nod, facing my palm up towards the ceiling as I turn off my phone and shove it into my back pocket. She picks what looks like a knife up from a broken desk along the wall next to her that glints in the limited amount of light. She then hands it to me, the heavy weight of the cool object pressing into my hand as I pick it up and rest the tip along my hot skin.

I run the jagged blade along the center of my other palm, wincing and biting my lip as I dig it a little deeper to draw a bit more blood out, which causes it to overflow from my cupped hand and stream down my arm. I stretch my hand out to give her the knife, then squeeze my hand into a fist and let the slow, steadily dripping stream of blood flow out of my clenched hand and down onto hers.

She motions to a spot on the carpet that I can only faintly see. It looks lighter than most of the rest of the floor, possibly cleaner. I somewhat sprawl out on the floor there, running my hand along my neck just in case the woman comes in to look at me. I then lay my hand next to my head, trying not to scrunch up my face at the foul odor and the thick, gross feeling of my blood pooling into the carpet below me.

I peek up at Ms. Kalyna and slightly nod. I watch in slight horror as her kind grin shifts into a dark, maniacal expression. She hobbles over to the door and turns the lock with trembling hands, then steps back and allows the woman to wedge her way through.

I jerk slightly as a resounding smack echoes across the room. Steeling myself again, I open my eye slightly to see what is happening, knowing that dead bodies don't usually have closed eyes, so I should be able to play it off better this way.

"Speak when you are spoken to you filthy little cunt."

"Yes ma'am."

Another heart wrenching smack. This time harder.

"I didn't ask for a reply."

From the dim lens I look through to see the two women, I see the woman take hold of Ms. Kalyna's hand and jerk it towards her, surveying the blood along her hands. She clenches her jaw and peers past Ms. Kalyna to look me straight in my eyes, and I hold my breath with the tense fear overtaking my body in mock rigor mortis.

Her hard set jaw softens into a light, neutral grin. "What do you want me to do with the body? I can add her to the seasoning bath and add her to your evening meal?" She ends her sentence in more of a question than a statement, dropping the old woman's frail hand to hang limply by her side as she stares at me.

The grin that had faded from Amelia’s features returns again, and the lady at the door mirrors her expression with what looks like hopeful eyes when she leans back away from the door. My stomach flips upside down, but I manage to keep myself from allowing bile to rise past my trembling lips. Ms. Kalyna looks towards me, her empty eye socket hidden by the dark shadows in the room, and the other so scarcely dilated that I can barely see her pupil anymore. She bites what lip she has left and turns back to the lady.

"Although I love your cooking, I have thought this room to be a bit... under decorated. The dear has a very toned figure from what I can see, and even has that virginal, young glow about her... I'm sure she would look much better splayed upon the wall than hacked up."

I try desperately to keep from cringing at the ‘virginal glow’ comment, violently pushing down the voice in my mind saying, ‘It’s not that noticeable, is it?’ Meanwhile, the lady's expression falls into somewhat of a sad, disappointed one; her lip puffing out and quivering a bit.

"Well, alright. I have to disagree, though. I think she would look significantly better with her skin flayed off, but that is just me. I'll settle for making you a two course meal out of Aaron tonight, then. I'll release the lock down procedure, so make sure to leave your door open now. You've earned your worth- she could have destroyed this whole operation~" The woman's eyes turn snake-like as she meets Amelia's good eye and smirks, knowingly pressing the notion that she would never escape this hell pit until she dies.

Without removing her gaze, the woman takes a walkie talkie from her belt and holds it up to her mouth. "All clear. Return to your posts."

Pocketing the radio again, she takes a small white box out from her back pocket and shoves it into Ms. Kalyna's chest just hard enough to make her stumble back.

"I'd say you've earned that reward. Now patch up that monstrosity of an eye before I rip it from its socket and add it to my soup. You tempt me, Amelia~" With another one of her lecherous grins and a thoughtful glance at my "soulless" eyes, she graces Ms. Kalyna's cheek with the tips of her fingers, then turns on her heel and moves out of my range of sight.

I hold my breath as I strain to hear the heels of her shoes clacking against the floor. I stare wide eyed at the door, the tension killing me. I finally take a breath as the noise goes out of earshot, taking long, shuddery breaths. I feel like laughing in triumph, or crying in fear, or huddling up into a ball in my room, but I can't do any of those.

However, I forget about my needs when I look up into Ms. Kalyna's face. I can barely hear it, but with it being so silent, I can hear the slight sound of tears hitting the little medical kit that she holds against her chest.

"Come here, I'll patch up your eye." I sigh with a caring tone. She sucks in a sharp breath then drops the knife on the floor and rushes towards me, suddenly crouching down and enveloping me in a hug.

"Do- do you see now? What they have been doing? I- c- can't... I'm so glad you finally came..." She lets the medical kit fall into my lap as I hesitantly raise my arm to wrap it around her back, tensing up a little as I feel raised gashes in her back from whip marks, some old, some fresh.

I stare up into the darkness with a blank expression, silent tears escaping from my eyes and dripping off of my chin. My tears stem from a mix of fear and realization that I could have saved another from dying if I had sucked it up and came here last night. I feel my shoulders shake with repressed anger towards myself. I'm no better than the bad cops... putting my own needs far in front of everyone else's.... why would I ever think I was any better?

"Please... let me heal you in the meantime..." I whisper into the darkness behind her head. She moves back to sit in front of me, letting her hands drag from my back all the way down to my trembling hands.

"No, I refuse to have you dress my wounds when you haven't dressed your own." She takes on a stern tone, like one a mother would slightly scold her children with but still maintain the loving tone.

I shake my head and peer down at my lap, taking a breath. "Fine, but then you have to let me help you."

"You've done so much for me... it's the very least I can do for you."

"I- I haven't done anything."

She places her hand on my cheek again. It causes my eyes to shift up to peer into her face again, meeting her one good eye. "You’ve done more than you'll ever know. Every one of us is indebted to you for the rest of our waking lives- you are the only ray of light to lead us out of the darkness. Somewhere inside yourself... you have to know this."

Her hand falls from my face and turns my palm over to face upwards. She undoes the latches on the little medical kit and removes a roll of gauze. I can feel the blood in my hand turning thick and goopy as it dries, but she takes a small washcloth from the kit and wipes it away with a gentility that reminds me of Cat.

She stares down at my hand, wrapping it tightly, but still prodding my hands with feathery light touches to gauge my expressions.

"...My family hasn't been able to come to see me. This place is set with very strict visiting hours, and usually they have excuses to turn people away. They made me call my family every week and tell them that I was okay, forcing them to believe it so they wouldn't feel bad and work in time to come and visit. Playing the stubborn grandma shtick seems to be a talent of mine, and I refused to comply with the nurses' wishes for the first week, hoping my family would get suspicious and send someone... but nobody came. The head nurse hooked a camera up on herself, then recorded knocking my grandson out... then throwing him into a garbage can... and laying in wait until the garbage truck came and threw him into the back of the truck. They made me watch as my grandbaby was crushed and smothered under trash, then compacted even further by the crusher inside the garbage truck. He... he would never wake up again."

I accidentally let a sob slip through my lips, to which the woman meets me with a kind expression. She ties the knot in the gauze, but I fiddle with the knot, untying it again to wrap it a little tighter to stop the stinging pain.

"He was always at peace with life, though. He never left home without saying that he loved everyone... so young... only sixteen..."

I make a hissing noise as I pull way too tightly on the bandages. It reminds me too much of myself before my family was killed... too much does as of late. It's as if life is playing a sick joke on me. I finish retying the bandage, then let her turn around.

I dab disinfectant on her back as she continues talking, slowly gaining her strong will to live back.

"I loved him dearly, and he was always worried about me. When I saw him die... a part of me died with him. I felt so crushed, but I was happy that he didn't have to live in this cruel world anymore. He found a better place- I know it in my heart- and he's waiting for me... but I won't join him yet. I have a chance to die among my loving friends and family and rest in peace because of you."

As she feels me finish putting the disinfectant on her, she turns to meet my eyes with a kind smile. My eyes widen, but I quickly turn from her gaze and hand her my phone, turning on the screen so I can see her face clearer, trying desperately to change the subject.

"I... need to cut this muscle away right here. It won't hurt as much as you think it will, but you can hold my hand and squeeze it as hard as you can to get your attention away from the wound. Try to keep your head forward like this."

She nods, then holds the light near the dangling eye, looking away from me with her other eye. I push past the horrific sight of the dark pit of her eye socket and hold the surgical scissors up, biting my cheek. She squeezes my hand almost painfully as I near her eye.

With one quick snip, the shredded muscle falls to the ground with a wet squish. I instantly drop the scissors with a harsh clang of metal and hold my stomach, rushing to a corner of the room. I feel the sting of stomach acid come out of my mouth and nose, a burning wake as I try to heave it all out. It's all over in a minute, and I hold my hand against the wall as I shake from all of the emotions I've been holding in, tears streaming down my cheeks and into my open mouth.

"This... is too much..." I mutter to myself as I wipe my arm across my mouth and nose.

I turn to the window as I hear sirens surround the building, then turn and sigh with happiness as I look towards Amelia. She meets my grin as one more tear slips down her face, catching the light from the window before dripping one last time down her chin.

 

Time Skip (Gore/Sensitive Material end)

 

The police stormed the building and found all of the nurses celebrating in the kitchen with copious amounts of alcohol in their systems. They never even heard the sirens until it was too late and they had no escape other than being dragged out in handcuffs and shoved into the back of police cars.

I look all around me as I stand out in the back parking lot of the nursing home, watching patients laughing, crying, praying, and even hugging family members that happened to live close enough to come support them. Some patients are even talking to the officers and verifying the crimes of the nurses, giving their witness statements to get the process out of the way early, trying to move on and begin the healing process.

I turn around to find Ms. Kalyna sitting on the ledge in the back of an ambulance, a pastel pink woolen blanket wrapped firmly around her shoulders as she stares off at the buildings of the city. I walk over to her and kneel down in front of her, taking her hands in mine.

She shakes her head out of her trance and smiles at me with pure joy. She shrugs the blanket off of her shoulders, then moves her hands from mine to wrap them tightly around my back. I smile as she laughs heartily and squeezes the air out of me.

"Thank you so much. My family and I can finally be safe from these terrible people, and I will get to see them again. I never even thought I would actually see the city one more time before I died... but now..." She lets go of me and looks up at the skyline again, the sunlight weaving between the buildings and reaching us. "I've told you before... but I'm forever indebted to you. May the light shine down upon you for the rest of your days."

I whimper in slight sadness as she releases me, then clamps back down onto my shoulders and looks into my eyes with such spirit, that they overflow with tears again. I'm glad that I could save these people... and I remember that if it weren't for Kage, there would be many more innocents killed.

With a final goodbye, the ambulance driver helps her back up into the ambulance and shuts the doors. I turn and go to check up on all of the rest of the patients to wish them well and say my goodbyes.

I put my hand over my eyes and look up just as the sun goes behind the clouds again, this time not being able to peek through like before. I look to the distance to see the light grey clouds turning a dangerous navy grey, and let my smile slip from my features. With only a few police cars left, I close my eyes and move my hand from above my eyebrows back through my hair with a sigh.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time to see that it is around 10:25. Shoving it back into my pocket again, I start walking out of the parking lot and down the sidewalk. I shove my hands in my pockets and cast my eyes down to the ground, the guilt of not making it in time to save the other patient that died weighing down on my mind even more with every step. I know that I couldn't have known, and with me being tired I wouldn't have been able to react in the same ways, so I would have put myself in even more of a dangerous and risky position than I had this morning. Not to mention that around that time, people from the police department would be heading home, and wouldn't bother to help- even if it was a code red. It puts me at somewhat of an ease of mind to know that there wasn’t much I could do, but still...

As I go to pass up a man on the sidewalk leaning against a car, I tense up as he places a hand on my shoulder and holds on with a firm grip. I turn my head slightly, looking up into the face of one of the police officers that frequents the department for coffee breaks and killing time.

"Well, well, well. Walking alone at this hour on a day like this? You need a strong man to accompany you! I just so happen to have a spot in my police car, baby. Your luck." I scrunch up my face in disgust as spit flies from his mouth and hits my cheek, right under my eye.

"Get off of me. I'm not your baby, and I most certainly am not getting in your police car." I angrily swipe my fingers across the wet spot on my cheek and suppress a death glare.

He looks like a pimp. There's a gold chain around his neck, and his uniform is unbuttoned just enough to show off an incredibly gross amount of chest hair under the collar, while he positively reeks of weed smoke. The gold watch on his wrist pushes into the ridge of my shoulder blade as he tightens his grip on my soft skin, his eyes narrowing further into a snake-like expression.

I forcibly shrug him off of my shoulder and continue walking down the sidewalk. I let out a hard sigh about 20 seconds later as I hear the light beep of his car horn next to me. He must have gotten into it while I was turned around. I give the guy a sidelong glance as he rolls down his window and keeps cruising along beside me.

"C'mon baby, it's going to rain. Just a ride back to HQ, ya know?"

I just barely hold in my anger. This guy knows who I am, and what I've just been through, but he has the audacity to come up and try to come after me. I don't think so, buddy. I dig my nails into my palm as he runs up onto the curb in front of me, cutting me off. A few stray people on the other side of the street stare nervously at the police car, then start to hurry along on their way.

"Look, just leave me alone." I growl through gritted teeth. I really don't want to get into a fight today, however this guy just might push me over the edge. I move around the front of the car and continue down the street, feeling the hairs on my neck rise as I feel his lecherous stare on my ass. My walking turns into angrily stomping down the sidewalk, my umbrella banging painfully against my side with every step.

I hear him squeal his tires, scraping the underside of his low riding car against the curb as he backs up faster than the car can take. He revs the engine, then tears up the road next to me as he passes my place on the sidewalk. I hold my middle finger up to his rear view mirror, and as a final fuck you from the world, rain starts sprinkling down onto my cheeks.

I let out a hard sigh and look up into the stormy sky, closing my eyes as the rain picks up and starts cascading down my face in little streams. It feels nice as it hits my bandaged hand, the searing pain that I had blocked out of my mind now dulled down to a dull throbbing, and annoying itch that picks at my skin. I block it out again and pull my umbrella off from my side, holding it above my head and pushing the little button that allows it to unfold and throw the rest of the rain away from me.

The rest of the beads slide off of the edges and hit the ground hard, splashing tiny droplets onto my ankles as they hit the ground next to me. I watch the few people around me running for cover and huddling under little overhangs from shops to wait out the brunt of the storm with a smile. I've always liked being out in storms, something about the thunder and the cool, fresh air just gets to me- a potentially dangerous force, but beautiful and gentle in the same time.

I start walking down the sidewalk again, letting my thoughts run wild through my head as I walk towards the bar Kage said he works at.

You might think I would hate thunderstorms, and truly, I wouldn't blame you for thinking so. The night my parents were killed, the air was fizzing with electric energy and the streets were filled with tiny rivers of cold rain. It had been raining for the whole day, but it had started to get worse out around the time my parents kissed me goodbye and left me home alone.

More often than not, they would have stayed home because they were such worrying parents, but this was their 20th anniversary, and a close family friend had set up a private table for them on the intricately decorated roof of the Blitzhimmel hotel, with the table being right above the Enzian; one of the most prestigious and highly rated restaurants in the city for its food, and its location. A friend of mine once told me that you had to book three years in advance to stay in the hotel, and the waiting list for the Enzian was even more ridiculous, though the number is lost to me.

The family friend who had been serving my parents that night had called me minutes after it happened in a horrible panic to notify me of their deaths. A horrible thing for a sixteen year old to hear, laying alone on a dreary Saturday night with her only family having gone out for the first time in a long time without her by their side, already worried out of her mind.

I don't quite remember the exact moment I dropped the phone, or opened the door to our back porch, or started wandering for hours on end through the forest, or when I crawled up a tree and huddled into a tight ball of utter mind-numbing shock and devastation, but I do remember that two days later, I woke up in a hospital after having been found by a young man in the woods. By then, my mind had already worked out three suspects for the murders of my parents, and my heart had been frozen over, stiff in my chest with the irrepressible need to get revenge on whoever killed them and find out why. The only source of comfort in those two days were the steady patters of rain upon the leaves of the trees and the soothing cold that erased the hot tears from my cheeks.

I sigh and tilt back the umbrella a tiny bit, letting a few more raindrops hit my cheeks and slide down to drip off of my chin before retreating back under it again. I knew from then on, all that mattered to me was my revenge and getting rid of my helplessness. I was on my own, with nowhere else to go except to follow the trail; with it being my only recognizable purpose then.

Incidentally, the police force needed a young covert operator, and the laws and rules of the police department had been warped enough to allow me to be one while continuing the rest of school.

I look up from the cracks in the concrete to find the slightly flickering, neon welcome sign I have been looking for. Another large neon sign stands in the window next to the other sign of a scantily clad woman holding a beer bottle out towards the onlooker with a seductive grin.

"Well... I guess it is a place Kage would definitely love to work at..." I mutter to myself, checking my satchel to make sure I do have my wallet in there so I don't walk in looking like a proper idiot, then move my gun and a half empty can of pepper spray towards the top. You can't blame me for being paranoid.

I push the button on my umbrella again and hold it away from me to shake off some of the rain before clipping it to my satchel again. Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around the cold metal of the knob and jump a little as a large bell on the top of the door practically fills the whole place with lower pitched twinkling noises. Most of it is drowned out by the hard rock playing from what looks to be a well maintained jukebox in the corner with many bottles of beer stacked on top of it waiting to spill. Lots of loud raucous laughter bounces off of the walls from the tables, and I find myself heading to the bar to sit next to a somewhat nicely dressed man, quickly noticing that I don't see any women or nice enough looking men anywhere.

He gives me a kind nod as I sit down on the booth next to him, then whistles for the bartender who has turned around to clean some glasses. The man moves his head to give the young man a sidelong glare, before finishing off his glass and placing it on a drying rack next to a small sink.

"I'm not a fucking dog, Mark. What have I told you about whistling for me?"

The man next to me flashes him a smile, then raises his scotch towards the bartender and downs the rest in one gulp. The bartender walks up in front of me with a neutral expression, watching the man next to me out of the corner of his eyes. "What will you have?"

"Whiskey, glass. I also have a question about one of your possible employees- he's a friend of mine." I mutter just loud enough for both of the men next to me to hear.

"Alright, gimme a sec." I watch the man turn to pull out a large glass as I take a couple of bills out. He holds it against the tap as it fills up to the top. I watch him trudge back over to my side of the bar and I shove the bills towards him. He hands me the glass and I take a large swig of it.

"I'm assuming the guy you're asking about is that little miscreant holed up in your room, so I'll just get on with it."

I almost spit my drink onto the table, slamming it back down to cover my mouth as I cough. The man next to me laughs loudly and hits my back a couple of times, giving me a bright smile.

"You're (Y/n)? I expected you to look a lot meaner from how that boy talks." He laughs out as I catch my breath. I give them both sort of a confused look.

They laugh, and I feel myself pout, taking another drink from my whiskey to keep myself from getting mad. I know they're kidding, but sometimes I find everything as an insult when I'm as tired as I have been lately. They calm down and give me kind smiles, very odd for a huge muscular guy with tattoos for days and what looks to be a successful, snake-like businessman to have, but still oddly calming.

"He's been talking a lot about you lately- unfortunately, he's never been one to keep his mouth shut when he's excited about something. Oh, and keep the money, you look like you need a drink, hon- he's quite a handful."

"S-so then, how long have you known him, then?" I stutter a little and blush as I set my drink down on the table again.

The businessman next to me props his head up on his hand and leans his elbow on the table, listening to the man behind the counter as he tells his story.

"Well, since he was a teenager." He begins. "I found him huddled up in a corner of my hunting cabin out near the train station in the woods. He said he had been abandoned by his family as a sixteen year old, and had been wandering around for about a two years on his own by then."

My eyes widen slightly. There's that number again. Kage was the same age as me when we were turned loose on the world- I just wonder if he felt the same way I did.

I jump as I hear another loud whistle ring out behind me and turn to see a group of what look to be borderline drunk coworkers laughing and nudging each other as they call the bartender over for another drink.

He gives me a polite nod, then grabs a few beers with one hand and heads on over with a moderately stern, however kind look. I look into my glass and swirl it around a bit, then bring it up to my lips and tilt my head back to down the rest of it.

“You know, he can be a bit of a nuisance sometimes, but once you get to know him, you’ll see what a great guy he is. A lot of us look up to him here, although most of us are probably ten years older than him.” The guy next to me slightly laughs as he places his glass on top of a few bills and swivels around in his bar stool to get up, but stays seated to meet my gaze and give me a reassuring grin. “Still, good luck with him though.”

With that, the man makes his way out of the door and into the light drizzling rain. I take my bills and shove them back into my satchel, before swiveling around in my chair and pushing off of it to stand up.

As I turn to walk out, the barkeep waves me down for a second. I stop and wait for him to walk up to me as I stand a bit awkwardly in front of the bar counter as he towers over me with a grin stretching across his chapped lips.

“Sorry for stopping you, but here-” he hands me a business card with his name on it, the business some sort of pool repairing company with three little blue squiggles and a beach ball serving as the logo, “my name’s Wayne, and just call this number if you ever need any help or questions about him- seeing as he probably won’t leave you alone for a pretty good while.”

I look back down at the card, then peer up into his eyes again and flash him a grateful grin. “Pleasure to meet you. Thanks for the drink and the help.” I stretch my hand out, which he quickly takes and shakes with a firm grip to perfectly match mine.

“Anytime, Miss (Y/n).”

He steps back and gives me space to exit, and I give him a polite smile as I make my way out of the bar, turning back as I open the door to meet his gaze again.

“I’ll be in touch.” I say a bit warily, and a bit jokingly. He laughs, and I let the door swing shut behind me. I grin as an uproar of loud cat calls and raucous laughter burst out from the inside. I’m all for having fun as long as my work doesn’t get in the way, and I’m surrounded by good people- so in other words I never have much fun. It’s probably why I feel so uptight all the time, but I try as hard as I can to try and keep calm and nice… more like tolerant.

I turn my smile up to the sky and feel it slide off of my features and turn into a nervous frown. I stayed in there a while, and the clouds have rolled in even darker, the rain already starting to pick up and the distant thunder growing ever closer.

I bite my lip and hold my thumb out, but after about two minutes of waiting and no sign of a taxi anywhere in the group of what few cars are going down the strip on this road, I huff and let my hand fall down to my side. It seems very unusual that there wouldn’t be any cars out and about on a weekend, much less around two o’clock- when most people in large groups have finished a late lunch and are heading back to their flats for a few drinks or more casual chat. Maybe the rain has something to do with it, but I seriously doubt it. Most people in the city do what they want when they want, regardless of the weather.

I jam my hands into my pockets with a sigh and give the sky another uneasy look before I channel the whiskey inside of my system and let the lasting warmth in the back of my throat and the bottom of my stomach calm me down a little bit.

I take a step forward onto a painted crosswalk; hurrying my way across out of habit even though the only few cars I can see are well away for me to cross safely. I make it to the sidewalk on the other side and feel myself go into somewhat of an autopilot as I continue on.

Sighing again, I turn into a shortcut I usually take: an alleyway that is usually one of the more brightly lit out of all of them. However, because my brain is stuck in autopilot, it takes me a minute to realize that I have been walking through a heavy, muggy darkness instead of the bright light of the alleyway.

My head jerks around, and I see both ends of the alleyway; dim blue lights in the distance, however reachable. Sheer panic stabs through my heart like a thousand needles, making me jolt forward to try and run to one of them.

With a sickening crack that echoes down the alley, I feel my hip slam against something hard and metallic, making me cry out in agony as I fall down to the ground and skid, my momentum carrying me halfway into a ditch where my hip dips down into the grate and bangs hard against the metal just to dig the knife-like pain in a bit deeper.

With that small feeling of hope coating the tips of the needles embedded into my heart, I shove myself up and stumble into a run again, feeling my hip screaming at me in pain. I block it out and grit my teeth, bearing it so I can get my feet where I need them to be.

“You’d think a crowbar ‘ould stop a pre’y little bitch like you, bu’ you must be tougher ‘an I thought.” I barely have time to register the voice before pain shoots up my wrist from behind me, and I feel my shoulder almost pop out of place as my momentum fails to pull whoever has latched onto my wrist along with me.

I thrash back wildly, managing to land a hard blow on the man’s open jaw and knocking a tooth back into his throat with my bandaged hand. He chokes and releases my arm, and I take off running again only to feel my leg tugged out from under me.

“You CUNT! That FUCKING hurt!” He growls overtop of the deafening ringing in my right ear from slamming it against the ruddy asphalt.

I kick back and feel my other leg clamped down upon by the man. He holds me down as much as he can as I flip and claw at him as much as I can to get him off. He struggles to stay on, and somehow makes it up to my shoulders, slamming his ass down on my hips to keep me from raising my legs up and kicking him off.

“Nowhere to go now, baby. I’ll have fun destroying your pussy, feisty little bitch.”

Shifting my eyes around wildly, I find my satchel inches away from my face, the flap hanging slightly open and bunched up on the ground with the opening facing towards me. I know that he can’t see me grinning, but I suppress it anyways in order to not be caught. It doesn’t matter however as he tries to rip my shirt open, but fails miserably. Preoccupied with that, I stretch my arm out quickly and shove my hand into the bag, immediately feeling the rubber grip of the gun with my fingertips.

With a jerk, I pull the gun back and pistol whip him in the face, getting him to fall off of me and to the side with a yelp. I scramble back up and stand with my gun pointed straight between his shocked eyes, but after a second, they turn cold.

“You think I’m stupid don’cha? Think imma be scared o’ a li’l bitch with a gun?” He shoves off of the ground and pounces forward onto me. My hand acts solely on muscle memory and jams the safety down mid-air. I feel the moment go by in slow motion as I feel my back slam against a wall and slightly bounce off from the force, my finger jolting on the trigger as my elbow hits the wall, the malicious coal black eyes of my attacker glinting as the shell explodes inside the gun, and the wet shlopping noise as the bullet exits his lung and out of his back as he tries to take a breath. I hear him fall in front of me, but I don’t look, afraid of what I might see. His blood feels hot, thick beads of it rolling down my arms and between my breasts from where he managed to get a few buttons to come apart. My stomach contracts with shock and disgust, and I feel bile tearing up my throat, but I swallow it back.

This is not the time.

I distraitly step over the body of the man and pick up my bag with shaking hands, the thin outline barely visible in the low light. I feel myself press the emergency contact on my phone, not even registering the blustery scolding tone of the chief on the other side as I report the attack, and hit the end call button halfway through his sentence.

Dropping the gun and the phone into my bag, I push the thought to look back at him out of my mind and start walking towards the light again. I need to get home. I need to take a shower. I need to lie down and think. I need quiet. I need… I need…

For some reason my mind bounces to Kage, the slight smirk on his face that usually appears when he’s trying to reassuringly joke with me. A sad smile breaks across my features.

I run a deft hand over the front of my button up, feeling the blood pooling at the top of my bra and spilling down the middle, already turning sticky and extremely thick. I scrunch up my nose in utter disgust. It's definitely a good thing that I'm so close to home.

I wrap my arms around my shaking body, trying to figure out if I'm actually cold, or just shivering from lasting shock. As I round the corner and make my way onto the sidewalk I let them fall so I can sprint across the almost deserted street and into the alleyway leading to the back door of our house. I don't have to run, but the hairs on the back of my neck rise up, and another shudder courses through my body, causing me to look over my shoulder slightly as I run to look for anyone watching me.

I can't find anything, but my eyes wildly search around anyway, along the windows of the apartment building, back into the alleyway behind me, down the street to my right. I scream as a horn blares from somewhere to my left, and the sound of tires screeching blares through my ears.

I stumble over the sidewalk and catch myself in an awkward position, whirling around to face the car that honked at me as I right myself again, which is stopped feet in front of where I was seconds ago. The man in the car jerks his head to face me, his furious expression turning ghostly white and his clenched jaw falling slack as he spots the immense amount of blood seeping through my shirt.

I panic and turn, running down the alleyway without looking back. As soon as I do it I almost stop to kick myself. He'll probably call up a police car and I'll get in trouble for it again.

'Maybe I should have stayed at the crime scene and waited for the rest of the police to show up...' My mind immediately recoils at the thought and I wince. 'No... I couldn't say even if I wanted to... and something isn't right anyway...'

My eyes jerk around me at the thought again, and I stumble up the steps to the back door as I jerk out my keys and shove them into the door. I rattle the knob, cursing as the door sticks. Nudging the door with my shoulder, it finally swings open in front of me but I end up falling forward onto my hands and knees.

I stare into the carpet for a second then I let myself fall to the floor completely, shaking with soft laughter. I flip over onto my back and kick the door shut with my foot, throwing my satchel over by the coat rack as I lie there.

"I'm going insane..." I mutter as I lightly close my eyes with a grin and sit up. I push myself up a bit more and kick my shoes off, setting the keychain in my hand on the table next to the door.

The smile slips off of my face as I start to take a step towards my room. Goosebumps rise on my skin in a sudden wave from my forehead down to my toes. I shake my head and push past it, buttoning my shirt back up as I reach the hallway that leads to my room. I have to grapple for the wall as a sudden wave of dizziness hits me and I almost fall to the floor.

A distorted image flashes across my eyes as I look back towards the door on a whim. My eyes snap open as I see about four bodies on the floor with immense amounts of dark, fresh blood staining the walls, I look down at my feet to avoid the picture, and stumble back against my bedroom door as I see the severed head of a young man staring back up at me with soulless eyes. I blink, and the image is gone again.

"...you know... I was just joking..." I mumble to the air, remembering the insanity comment I made only about a minute earlier.

I fumble for the knob behind me, promptly turning it and swinging it open behind me- wanting to be as far away from that image as possible. I step in and slam it behind me, my eyes still fearful as I look at Kage, who has suddenly sat up from the bed, scrambling to get his mask as he hears the door slamming shut behind me.

"K-K-Kage?"

He stops trying to slam his mask over his face as he notices the horror in my tone, his real eye meeting mine as he turns his head only to watch me sink to the floor.

Kage drops the mask on the bed and rushes over to me, holding my shoulders as I feel myself falling to the floor, all strength leaving my body.

"(Y/n)? You're shaking... what is this- blood?" He takes the open fabric of my button up shirt in between his finger and thumb, his expression turning grim as it rubs off onto his hand. He places a hand on my cheek and lightly turns my head so I can meet his fearful ruby eyes.

I feel my heart stop for a second, then beat hard one time and flutter on. I missed those eyes. I clench the fabric of my button up over my heart, then let my head fall into the crook of his neck as the constricting feeling comes back, growing stronger.

"Something's... not right..." I manage to push out. Dread floods through my veins like someone has injected a needle of liquid nitrogen into my system. I have no idea why, and it terrifies me. Kage backs up and places his hand under my jaw, trying to meet my gaze, but I move my eyes to stare at my closed bedroom door.

Every sound cancels out in the next second... all except for three, loud knocks against the back door leading into the alley. The air becomes thin and hard to breathe, as I realize something.

I left the back door unlocked on accident, and nobody knows about that door except for Cat, the kids, possibly dangerous criminals, and me... and with the only open option out of those four being possibly dangerous criminals...

The sensible side of me kicks in and calms me down.

'It could be anyone. The guy in the car maybe...'

But somehow I doubt it. Shoving off of the floor a bit too hard, I stumble back, but quickly right myself and slam open the door seconds later.

A yell gets stuck in my throat as I hear Catrina's footfalls against the wooden floor. Without a voice, I run forward with my hand outstretched. I only just reach the main room as she reaches for the knob.

"CATRINA!" I finally screech at her. She whirls her head around to face me in slight shock. A relieved sigh pushes past my lips as she takes a step back from the door at my words.

I go to tell her to lock the door, but my words are reduced to only an awful choking noise as the door suddenly slams open and splinters against the wall.

And in the next second, the only thing I can hear is the earsplitting boom of a gunshot piercing my eardrums.


	8. Safety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go! THE KICKOFF IS FINALLY HERE!!! Shit's going down now!!! 1 more thing though, for all of the cursing that I put in here, I will not write down the word c*nt without a star in it. I hate that word, but it gives the story more emphasis. Aaanyway... enjoy!

Time stands still. My heart stops as I feel my blood run cold. Every sense shuts down almost completely, and all I can do is stare blankly in front of me. My eyes are trained on Kage's shocked expression. I feel like I am in a limbo of reality and dream. I can't tell which is which.

 

It takes a shrill scream and the dead weight of a body hitting the floor to send my senses hurtling back at me at full speed.

 

I take a sharp breath as the harsh reminder for air hits me like a brick. I take a deep breath through my nose, nostrils flaring.

 

I feel my blood coursing through all of my veins, and hear my heart pumping loudly in my ears. I clench my jaw until I feel like my teeth are going to shatter.

 

I seize my shirt and feel my nails tear holes in the white fabric near my breast. I feel the cool blood on it flake off and stick to my nail beds. New, fresh blood flows from my skin and trickles down my front.

 

All I can do is hope as I veer towards the door and rush towards the back of the house. Thoughts flood my mind that try to reassure my panicked mood.

 

'Maybe it's not her... Maybe she got to my gun first and shot them... She can't be gone... she just can't...'

 

I skid to a stop at the end of the hallway and look upon the bloody scene with horror. Drops of blood paint the wall and the thugs standing in my doorway with shit-eating grins. My reassuring thoughts stop abruptly when I see the convulsing body of Catrina on the floor; a gunshot in her abdomen. 

 

The thugs don't notice me, but I almost scream when I see Ella and Evan holding hands in the kitchen doorway. Their faces are contorted with pure terror and silent tears stream down their face.

 

"Hey! You da bitch who killed our leader! You gon' die, stupid c*nt! Your whole family gon' die! We'll leave you for last so we can have our fun with you!" One shouts with a hateful tone while limply holding up a semi-automatic gun.

 

I feel Kage put a firm hand on my shoulder, but I shake it off violently. A rush of adrenaline flows through my system and I look at my feet. My hair covers my face as laughter spews out of my mouth. All that I can see turns to a hue of red as my body shakes with a mixture of excitement and chuckling. My mouth goes completely dry and I feel my senses get sharper than ever before. I can feel the temperature in the room get colder, smell the sweat covering the nape of my neck, hear their hearts beating in their chest, even see the next movements they will take.

 

I lift my head up to look straight into the eyes of the speaker. He gasps and takes a step back, only to run into one of his surprised gang members. I can feel their once destructive attitudes dwindle into very uneasy aura. They all take a step towards the exit with fear in their eyes as I make my way towards the center of the room with agonizing pace.

 

In the corner of my eye, I can see the twins start to move forward along with me. Their eyes are completely black and they have the same murderous atmosphere about them. The look to me and I nod my head towards the criminals. Two Cheshire grins make their ways onto their features as they turn and keep them occupied. I rush over to Catrina and kneel down to her.

 

She is covering up her wound with splayed fingers, but blood still flows through them. She coughs up a small amount of blood, which I wipe away from her mouth as she looks up at me with the same kindness she has always had in her crinkled eyes. I smile as she hold her hand up and places it on my cheek lovingly. I look at her wound and automatically know that she won't be able to make it. Her kidney has been shot, through and through.

 

"(Y/N), don't worry about it right now, it's alright. I have to, tch, tell you something quickly."

 

I look straight up at her as she motions me a little closer. I hesitate slightly as I hear the thugs behind me fumbling with their gun. I look back at the twins to see them closing in on them with kitchen knives in each hand; aimed and ready to throw. I lean my ear close to her dry lips and listen hard.

 

"Don't worry about me. I know where I am going, and I will see you there... but I have one thing to ask of you before I go... Protect the innocent, and kill the guilty, (Y/N). Keep the peace in this world from leaving forever. You have good judgment. Choose your victims well... I love you... good... bye..."

 

Her eyes slowly close and every movement from her comes to a halt. Her head rolls to one side as I see blood still flow through the cracks of her splayed hand. A single, bloody tear falls onto her cheek and rolls down the side of her face. My breath hitches as I can feel her soul leave the world in one swift flash.

 

I get up off of the ground in a quick motion, startling our intruders. I know that the twins have them cornered with the door shut. I hear the almost silent cocking and bang of a gun behind me and swivel around just in time to catch it with my fingertips. The flesh on them sizzles as I can feel the heat of the bullet against my fingers. I smile maliciously at the thug and reel my arm back; throwing the bullet back at him with break-neck speed. The bullet slides right through his body like a knife to a piece of cake, leaving him crumpling to the floor, dead.

 

His fellow gang members turn to face their fallen comrade as they look in horror. I run forward, silently padding on the floor. I lean my mouth next to the ear of the closest thug with a sharp smile.

 

"Boo." I whisper, making him jump.

 

He doesn't have time to turn around fully before I shove my fist through his chest, his boiling hot blood encasing my forearm. He lets out a final squeak before going completely limp against my hand. I jerk my arm out from his chest cavity, leaving a gaping hole of flesh and bone. I reach my hand up and lick the back of my hand like a cat before slashing my next victim's neck with my fingernails. Blood showers me, sizzling to the touch. 

 

I feel my rage grow stronger and my eyesight get even redder at the taste of my last kill. More adrenaline forces its way through my body as I sweep my foot under my next victim, tripping him. He stares at me with dread as I raise my foot above his head. I guffaw at the sickening snap of his skull as I crush it with the heel of my foot. His brain tissue squishes in between my toes, but I don't care at the moment.

 

I look up to the next martyr, but I am surprised to see the man facing me with an already dead expression glued to his features. I look at him in confusion, before realizing that two blades are slicing the man in threes. I step back and over my other victims as the man falls three different ways. Behind where he once stood are the small children that I know to be Ella and Evan. Their maniacal grins turn into saddened ones as they look at my forlorn expression.

 

They peer around me at the body of the one who they once called "Mother." Bloody tears flow out of their eyes as the harsh clang of their knives hit the floor. They run forward and hug me around my waist. Another onslaught of tears threaten to spill out of my eyes at the sound of their howling.

 

My ear twitches as I hear the creak of a floorboard behind me. I turn my head with renewed vigor, only to find Kage. He looks astonished, but in a good way. He raises his hands and clasps them together.

 

"We need to go. Someone called the police. They are on their way to surround the area. We need to get out of here. You need to pack, fast."

 

I let go of the kids and look at them with a stern expression.

 

"Grab a small trash bag and put only what you need in it. ONLY what you need."

 

"Got it." They say simultaneously.

 

They run off towards their room and I look toward Catrina one last time before motioning him to come and help me pack. He follows as I run towards my room.

 

I take the small bag out of my hamper and throw a couple of pictures and memorabilia in it. I grab a couple of outfits and shove them to the bottom. I point to the kitchen silently, and Kage speeds off to get some food. I throw a pair of sneakers into the bag and pull off my clothes with lightning speed. I grab a towel from the bathroom and wipe off the excess blood before throwing on a black T-shirt and jeans.

 

I am pulling on a pair of socks when Kage rushes into the room, arms filled with cans and small boxes. He thrusts it into the bag and looks at me with a questioning expression. I nod and grasp another pair of tennis shoes from the closet. He walks out of the door with the bag over his shoulder. I hear him set it down by the door and check on the twins.

 

I finish lacing up my shoes and rush into the twins room, right into Kage. I hit his chest with a powerful force, knocking him back a couple of steps. I mutter a quick sorry as we pass each other. The twins have changed into new clothes as well and are ready to go.

 

I motion them to follow me as I look back at the room one last time before heading to the front of the house. We stop at the back of the door and Kage hoists the bags over his shoulders. I clutch my now bloody satchel and sling it over my shoulder.

 

"So where are we gonna go?"

 

"Just follow me. It will be about three miles away from here. So just about an hour, not including stops."

 

"Fine, just lead us. Kids, stay close to me okay?"

 

"Yup!"

 

Time Skip

 

 

We didn't get caught anywhere in the city and made it to the tree line of the forest surrounding it. No one was suspicious of us and we got out with any complications, but every person in the Bureau is out looking for me. The twins couldn't walk anymore, so I am currently walking with them on my back.

 

"We have about a half of a mile left to walk, okay (Y/N)?"

 

I nod tiredly and look at the two sleeping children on my shoulders and smile sadly. My strength is dwindling, but I know that we only have about ten minutes of walking left.

 

We make our way through the forest. I feel the breeze gently blow my hair to one side of my face, tickling my neck. The air smells a lot fresher, and I can see a lot farther. The ground feels soft under my shoes and I readjust the small bag on my shoulder. The trees lean down like fingers, gently brushing against my soft skin and leaving little white marks behind. 

 

I can tell that some rain will be coming soon. For the air is damp and makes my clothes stick to my skin. Kage looks back at me with worry every minute.

 

"Are you sure that you don't want me to carry one of them? I'm sure that I could..."

 

"No, I'm fine. You are carrying a lot anyway."

 

He gives me a worried look as he turns to face forward again. I smirk at the back of his head and let out a soft giggle.

 

He turns around again with a small pout on his mask. I giggle even more at his expression.

 

"What's so funny?"

 

"Oh, I was just thinking about how this once badass killer is worried about my well being..." I say innocently.

 

"Once badass? I'm still badass."

 

"Really now? I think you are just a worry wart."

 

"Oh?! Well I don't have to worry about you then! I could just leave you here in the woods!"

 

"Please don't leave me in the woods. I will be so helpless and innocent to fend for myself." I say sarcastically.

 

"You are so mean (Y/N)."

 

"You love me."

 

"You bet I do."

 

I can see his muscles stiffen, and I can feel my face turn a bright red, but it is too dark to see it. I pretend like it was a joke when he glimpses back at me to see my expression. I feel my muscles start to give out, but I keep pushing on.

 

I yawn and my eyes start to drift shut. I try to shake my head, and my eyes open only a little bit. I feel so tired that I can feel the skin under my eyelids sagging more with every step.

 

I take my next step on the dampening grass and feel my eyes droop again. I try to keep my eyes open long enough, but I have no strength left, and they shut. I feel myself dropping towards the ground as my legs give out. I feel Kage start to shake my arm and pick me up, but it is very distant. I feel warm and safe as I let myself slip back into the dark recesses of my mind.


	9. Relocating Mission (part 1)

A gentle swaying motion lulls me out of my slumber. I open my eyes groggily and pry my sticky lips apart. Letting out a large yawn, I let my eyes adjust to a soothing candle-lit room. It doesn't have any windows, but I can see a set of concrete stairs leading up to a pair of wooden cellar doors. I look down at what I am laying on, which seems to be a very sturdily knit hammock that is rocking back and forth.

I jolt slightly when I feel a small hand wind around my arm and turn me on my other side. My stunned expression fades at the heart melting sight before me. Ella is clinging to the front of Kage, whose mask is slightly ajar, and Evan is looking at me cutely with his sleeping face. I let out a small gasp as Evan nuzzles his head into my chest and wraps his small leg around mine. His arm keeps me in a vice as he locks it securely behind my back.

"Morning, Sunshine... how did you sleep?"

I look over to find Kage smirking at me while Ella cuddles up against him for warmth. I give him a sideways smile and roll my eyes. He laughs quietly and I snuggle closer to Evan as a small breeze blows by me.

"Fine, where exactly... are we?"

"Bunker. We'll just stay until right before the sun comes up, then we'll head to the main safe house."

I nod and lay my head back down on the woven strands of the hammock. Evan has stopped nuzzling and is right between my boobs, causing me to keep a rosy red complexion. Kage glances down at the sleeping child causing me great emotional pain and tries to hold in his laughter. I give him a dirty look and a pout as he covers up his mouth in a failing attempt to seal off his laughter.

"So what happened last night then? Did you carry me all the way here along with these two?"

"Yeah, you are pretty light. It was your stuff that gave me a whole lot of trouble. What the hell did you bring anyway?" He jokes.

"A bunch of shit to keep us from starving until we get there, a couple of outfits, a blanket, couple of pictures, your sorry ass... nothing too important."

"Oh, ha ha ha, very funny." He says sarcastically. "Wait, you had a blanket this whole time?!" He whisper yells.

"Shhh! Yeah, smart one."

He scowls and furrows his painted eyebrows. I chuckle, causing a pink color to rise to his mask. He reaches his hand up and somehow squishes his cheeks together in a fish face, sending another fit of giggles out of my mouth.

"Sorry about last night though, I should've said something before giving you even more trouble... but now we are even, aren't we?" I say with a quirked smile.

"Huh? How are we even? I didn't do anything to you."

"You broke into my house a couple of nights ago and had ever since claimed my room as your new apartment."

"Oh yeah. I guess you are right." He says with a mocking tone and a smirk.

"Hey!"

"Haha, sorry."

"No you aren't."

"You are right about that too."

"Shut up!" I say with a playful voice. I prod his shoulder in a playful fashion and he smiles even wider.

I begin to think about my home and what happened the day before, and my smile slowly slips off of my face. My forlorn expression catches Kage off guard and he looks worried. I get caught up in the good memories of my past and feel my heart ache for comfort.

"Hey, are you doing okay? I'm here if you want to talk about it."

His comment catches me off guard and I freeze as hot tears blur my vision. He doesn't seem like the kind of person to say that to me. I peer up at his sympathetic face and wipe my tears away with my knuckle. I turn my gaze away from him and sigh.

"I think I will be alright. How about we talk later after we get to that place you were talking about?"

"Sure, whenever you are ready."

I think about the day before and remember the strange comment he had said that same morning to me. I decide that I should ask him.

"So, what is your real name if it isn't Kage?"

He looks at me with confusion at my sudden change of subject. His lips form into an 'o' shape then fade into a crooked frown.

"My real name...." he hesitates like he isn't sure if he should tell me, "Kagekao."

I puzzle over the familiar name and remember a small clipping like that on the internet related to the case. I thought it was irrelevant, and I needed cold, hard facts. I also didn't trust a story that was labeled as, "fanfiction."

"I think I have heard that name before. Are you popular online?"

"Yeah, but not for... good things. I didn't tell you because there is some weird shit about me there... NOT true, of course..." He advises me while shivers go up his spine.

"I understand, but I'm not used to calling you Kagekao... could I still call you Kage?"

"Yeah, sure... but if anyone else calls me that I WILL kill them, unless they just happen to be Ella or Evan." He says with a pointed finger waving in the air as he speaks; Lashing and zig-zagging its way in a lethal cutting motion.

A last remaining tear slips out of my eye even though I am not crying anymore, and slides down to the tip of my nose. Kage notices and reaches his hand over, brushing it away with a feathery touch. His hand lingers on the side of my jaw, and I realize just how close we are. His chest is only a foot away from mine with the kids in the middle.

I lean my head into his hand and move a little closer to his face. Our eyes slowly close until they are half lidded. We move a little closer to each other as he pushes his mask up a little so I can see his fully exposed, greyish lips.

"Quit crushing me! I can't breathe!"

I jolt back in surprise and look down at the kid scowling at me from between my breasts. Fully alert and awake, all I can do is blush and stare down at him. All of the sudden, he shoves me back and I tumble off of the low hanging hammock, causing it to swing back and forth vigorously. I hit the floor and roll to the side with a thump and a glare. Evan laughs uncontrollably at me as I lay sideways on the floor, facing him.

"I will beat your little ass, twerp!" I yell angrily as I get up and brush the dust off of my clothes and hair.

"Someone's embarrassed!" Evan retorts.

I stomp forward and clamp down on the swinging hammock. It jolts to a stop, making the three of them rock forward. Kage spots the red hot anger in my expression and slinks off of the woven strings with Ella in his arms. He makes his way to the corner of the room to watch our sibling spat from a safe distance.

I tower over the child in front of me, causing his cocky attitude to fade into reluctance and fear. I chuckle softly, seeing the terrified look in his eyes. My hands leave the side of the hammock and grapple for the front of his T-shirt as I lift his upper torso to meet my eyes. He holds his hands up in surrender as I hold him towards me.

I drop Evan back on the hammock and start wiggling my fingers over his sides, causing him to laugh loudly. I even start giggling along with him. He weakly tries and fails to pry my hands away from his ribs and flails his legs in the air. His breathing has become more erratic and quick and his face is blood red, so I lighten up on the tickling, but only a little.

"Uncle! Uncle!"

I take my hands away from him and step away from the hammock. When he regains what composure he has, he musters up the meanest glare he can at me. I cover my mouth and all three of us chuckle at his tantrum. He pouts and throws his legs over the side of the hammock, landing on the floor and kicking up a small cloud of dust.

I make my way over to Kage and Ella in the corner of the room. Ella is half awake now and peering over at me with lidded eyes. She opens her mouth wide and lets out a yawn before snuggling into Kage's shoulder. I hear Evan's stomach growl from across the room and feel the same ache for food prodding my stomach.

"I brought some food we can eat before we head out, guys."

I walk over to the hamper bag and pull out a couple of cans of fruit and a few cereal bars for all of us. I hand a can of peaches to Ella and two cereal bars to Evan. Kagekao holds up his hands to say that he doesn't need any, but I shove a couple of cereal bars into the front pocket of his jeans. He looks at me incredulously, like I had just committed a huge sin or something. I just give him a sly smile and mouth a few words to him.

'In case you decide get us separated.'

He rolls his eyes and turns to help open the fruit can that Ella was struggling with. I hear a satisfying clink as he rips the top it off in one swift move. I tear the wrapper of a cereal bar and slide it off. Putting into my mouth, I feel the sweetness coat my tongue and satisfy my stomach and it falls down the back of my throat. I take a crinkling plastic water bottle out of the bag and start passing it around between the four of us.

"So about how far is this other shelter then?" I ask while chewing the remnants of my cereal bar.

"Only a mile or two. We should be there before lunch. We also need to take off when we get done eating; it's almost six o'clock. We need to get going before daybreak."

"Alright," I say while wiping some crumbs away from my mouth. "Kids, get your stuff ready to leave."

Time Skip

As I hoist my bag over my shoulder, I turn to recheck if we left anything. After I do a quick rerun, we stand in a group by the stairs. They crumble and crack as we make our way up them to the cellar doors. Kage lifts a splintering wooden plank from them, releasing the hatch for us to open it. I step forward and help him push the heavy doors open.

The wooden doors are pushed outwards and hit the soil by the underground hole with a satisfying crack. I wipe my hands against each other and turn to readjust the sack on my bruising shoulder. We climb out together, still concealed by the shadows of the night, as quietly as mice.

I peer up at the fairly roomy house behind us. It has only one floor except for the cellar and seems to be more well kept than the cellar below it. No one would have stumbled upon this house without exactly knowing where it was, it is so hidden by the vast amount of shrubbery surrounding it.

Kage leads us to the side of the large mass of trees, and we squeeze through a tangled mess of low hanging vines and branches. After we get through, I get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I swivel around and try to spot anything suspicious, but I can't find anything.

"What's wrong, (Y/N)?" Kage whispers with a concerned expression.

"Nothing..."

He only shrugs and faces front again. I keep Evan beside me, and Ella clutches Kage's gloved hand as he maneuvers through the trees.

The mildewy smell of fresh trodden leaves wafts into my nose as I close my eyes for a brief moment and take in my surroundings. I can still feel my heightened senses recording every small disruption in the forest as I take soft steps over logs and dew. I can taste the fresh air in my mouth like drinking from a spring, and I let a smile coat my features.

The moss under my feet makes a squishing noise as it squeezes its accumulated water from its spongy texture. The air whistles past my ears in soft waves that could almost whisper to me. A hummingbird flits past my now nocturnal vision and perches itself on a nearby tree. Watching, listening, feeling; it is amazing how my newfound ability allows me to see so much more. My heartbeat in my ears calms my stress and anxiety of being caught, and I feel in a limbo of real life and the dream world.

Suddenly, it all stops. The few soft twitters of passing birds, the wind whistling, the fresh air, every single feeling is gone. I can't hear anything anymore not accounting for the increasing rate of my heart and the breathing of Kage and I. The children can't seem to find anything out of the ordinary at the moment, and keep their path straight and void of any negative feelings.

As I step on the top of a rotting log, I see it. A single car is parked only about 20 feet away from us with police decals and readily aimed shotguns aimed at us. They stand just over the top edge of each car door.

"Stop and put your hands up, or we'll shoot, (Y/N)!" A megaphone blares and sends my heightened hearing into a fit of ringing.

In a split second, everything goes to hell.


	10. Relocating Mission (part 2)

The ringing in my head continues, dulling my ability to hear myself thinking clearly. I can tell that there are more than ten armed men surrounding us from all sides, and I try to look through the trees for and exit. There is no way that we can kill all of them without endangering Ella and Evan.

 

Fortunately, I see an exit right behind us about ten feet wide. The chief, Oaf, is standing behind the driver’s door and signaling everyone to cock their guns. Ten sharp clicks reach my eardrums. At that, I know that it is time to go, and fast.

 

Turning to Kage with fearful eyes, I mouth only one word to him before motioning with my head to the exit behind us.

 

‘Run…’

 

In a split second, everything goes to hell.

 

We turn to run as Oaf gives one last signal to fire. A bullet ricochets off of the tree bark next to me, sending tiny pieces of bark to fly from it. I grab Evan, who is closest to me, and pick the small killer’s body up. Shielding him with my torso, I wrap his arms around my neck and start running; dodging every tree, branch, or log that we come in contact with.

 

Glancing around, I find that Kage has taken a different open route. Ella is safe and sound in his arms, and I sigh in relief that he got my subtle message.

 

I yelp in pain as a bullet careens straight through my right earlobe. Hot, sticky, blood flows into my ear canal, cutting out half of my hearing. Even more blood oozes down the side of my neck and mixes with a thick layer of sweat.

 

I lose sight of Kage and Ella through the trees, but I know that they will be safe. Keeping my eyes ahead of me now, I hold onto Evan tighter and increase my speed, bit by bit. The troop of armed officers is well behind me at this point, and I keep my pace until I am absolutely sure.

 

Time Skip

 

After a while of running, I can still feel blood trickling down my skin. Tired, sweaty, hot, and achy, I decide to stop and catch my breath. I place Evan down on the ground and lean his limp body against the tree. Surprisingly, the rhythmic beating of my heart and gentle breeze has lulled him to sleep. I huff and slump down next to the small boy with a sigh. Even a ten-year old like him isn’t as light as you might think.

 

Cupping a hand over my ear, I grimace at the stinging pain it emits and let out a muffled yelp. I clench my fist tightly until my knuckles turn white. I flex my fingers and move my hand away from my ear. Gripping the bottom of my shirt with both hands, I rip a strip of cloth from it.

 

Bringing the small piece of cloth to my ear with a shaking hand, I grit my teeth and wait for the pain again. Pushing the cloth onto the wound and trying not to cry out, I lift my hair from my neck and tie the cloth in a tight knot.

 

a couple of frayed strings tickle the back of my neck, taking my thoughts away from some of the mind numbing pain in my ear. Peering over at Evan, I find that his eyes are half closed and he is silently mouthing a few words. I lean down next to his mouth, trying to hear what the child keeps repeating in his sleep.

 

“Dodge right from the foe that greets you with a smile, or you shall forever sleep.”

 

My eyes widen at the soft repeated whispers of the killer. I know that he would never talk to anyone like that, even in a dream, and it sets me on even more of an edge. Moving myself so that I am again resting against the damp bark, I let out a restrained sigh. The sad calls of the mourning doves drift down from the trees as I stretch out my sore limbs.

 

Playing with the frayed strings at the bottom of my shirt, I notice that I where some little scratches were, there are now only tiny spots of dry, flaky blood. Swiping a finger across the small reddish dots, I find no wounds at all.

 

“I could’ve sworn…”

 

Evan suddenly jolts forward with a terrified expression. I reel back from him, startled, and see that his eyes are rolled back so only the whites of them are showing

 

“Hurry or you shall meet another gruesome fate, hurry, hurry, HURRY!”

 

I stare at him for a second, before he slumps back against the tree, back to normal. Sincerely creeped out, I decide to take heed of his advice and get moving. Wiggling an arm under his back and under his legs, I hoist him up and into my arms.

 

With one last look around, I start sprinting in the same direction as before.

 

Kagekao’s POV

 

My body aches with worry and excitement. I haven’t had a chase like this since before I first became one of Them. Ella, who is currently bobbing on my shoulder with every uneven step, is whimpering slightly. We both know that the police force is hot on our trail with dogs, men, and any weapon that they could get their grubby little hands on.

 

My eyes swivel around as I keep a sharp eye out for a possible hiding spot where they can’t shoot Ella. I can handle a few dogs and bullets, but she sure as hell can’t.

 

A bullet hits the ground near my feet as I increase my speed, sending a few good chunks of the earth into the air. I am surprised by the accuracy and trajectory of the bullet. If I hadn’t sped up, my foot would have had a hole in it.

 

‘From how (Y/N) acted towards the force could never compare to how persistent and annoying they are now...’

 

And then I spot it. The perfect hiding place. It is a hollow, rotting tree with a good amount of vines and bushes concealing the entrance. Sprinting towards the tree, I shove away some bushes and set the small girl down inside of the rotting trunk. She looks at me with worry, but I only hold a finger to my mask and jump to another tree.

 

My claws dig into the wet bark as I climb to a fairly high limb and steady myself on it. Retracting my claws, I cross my legs and watch the path we had just treaded upon. A few dogs run by, snarling under their heavy pants.

 

Only one stops and sniffs the air. I glare with bated breath down at the dog sniffing around, but a sharp bark makes it run after it’s companions. I feel almost glad that I didn’t have to take action. I wouldn’t enjoy killing anything in this moment.

 

When I am sure that nothing is close to us anymore, I shove myself off of the limb and hit the ground with a light thud. Padding silently over to the child, I weave my way through the weeds and tap her on the arm.

 

She whips around in fear and jabs a small pocket knife towards me. I grab ahold of her arm as a reflex and gaze at her with shock. The blade trembles only a millimeter away from my carotid artery. When she looks up at me and realizes who I am, she drops the knife instantly and tears up.

 

“I’m, I-I-I almost… I’m so sorry!”

 

She takes the back of her hand and wipes away a few falling tears as she hiccups and sobs. I reach forward and run my fingers through her damp hair and let a kind smile form on my mask.

 

“Hey, kid, don’t cry over me! No harm done.”

 

She whimpers and sniffles, but nods her head in agreement. I hold my hand out to her, and she takes with a gentle and dainty touch. Hopping down from the tree, she keeps a firm grip on my hand, pulling me along behind her.

 

“We have to get there so we can see (Y/N) again and get you two back together.” She cheerily whisper-shouts. I almost laugh at her quick recovery from her attempt at killing me.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You need to be married! Duh!”

 

I can’t help a small cloud of blush appear on my mask as she says it, but I keep calm and only chuckle a little bit.

 

“And why is that?”

 

“Well, you have to get married if you like each other, you know. You can’t date if you aren’t married!”

 

My chuckling turns into full-blown laughter as she waves her hands in the air for emphasis. An angry pout makes her look even more hilarious as she pops her hip out and puts her hands onto her hips. I cover my mouth to try to quiet myself, but every time the sentence replays in my mind, I can’t help but giggle.

 

“I think you have things a little mixed up there, kid.”

 

“My name is not kid, It’s Ella!”

 

“Sure, kid.” I joke as I ruffle her hair and start walking past her.

 

“I’m telling (Y/N) that you were being mean to me!” She protests.

 

I stop and feign a terrified expression, turning and leaning down so I am level with her scowl. She is taken aback by how afraid I look and breaks her expression slightly.

 

“You are? I guess we can’t get married then.” I say sullenly as I fake a small sob.

 

“Fine, I won’t tell (Y/N)...”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, but you have to do something for me.”

 

“And what might that be?” I inquire while leaning a little closer to her face to make sure she knows she has my attention.

 

“Kiss her, on the lips, when we see her again.”

 

“...You are an evil child.”

 

Your POV:

 

After only about five minutes of running, I can see a small clearing through a dense section of pine trees. Bright red and black wildflowers cover the area as well as make small paths through the trees. Their pollen clumps itself onto my shoes, and the air is filled with a rich citrusy perfume. I automatically recognize it as one of my favorite flowers, poppies. As I reach the edge of the thick line of trees, I find that I am at the top of a small hill completely covered in them. I walk carefully through the large field of poppies until I reach the edge of the hill; smiling as I gaze down upon a large white house at the bottom of it.

 

“Found it.”

 

Evan stirs on my shoulder as I lock my arms more securely around the underside of his knees. His warm and soft breaths hit my neck and coax me out of my trance and into walking down the slope. Making sure that I place my feet on sturdy patches of earth, I glance around at the pleasant scenery surrounding me.

 

Next to the house is a very large willow tree with it’s branches lightly swaying back and forth, scraping delicately against the grass. The wind lifts my hair off of my neck and sends a comforting chill down my sweaty back. I hum in delight and slow my pace as I near the edge of the hill.

 

As I walk through the yard and up to the wooden porch, I notice that the house has an almost eerie feeling oozing from its cracks and crevices. The sun goes behind the clouds, covering everything in shadows that drag their sharp, icy nails across my bare skin. My whole body tenses up and adrenaline courses through my body as every fiber of my being is telling me that something bad is going to happen if I open that door.

 

I nudge Evan awake, making him mumble out a few not so nice words for a ten-year old. I glare at him, shutting his mouth for the time being. I feel his grip around my neck tighten a little bit as he realizes where we are and why my expression is serious. He breathes in the evil polluting the surrounding air and his pupils change to a red that rivals the surrounding flowers.

 

“Do you see that tree over there? I want you to hide in it as best as you possibly can, okay? Do NOT come out unless I tell you to.”

 

He nods in response as I lean back and set him on the cool grass. He scampers over to the willow tree and climbs up with the agility of a monkey. It almost makes me smile.

 

I press my lips into a firm line as I turn back to the building. Climbing up the creaky steps, I mold my hand into a fist and hold it inches away from the door.

 

Taking a deep breath and dig in my pocket to find a small knife I have for safekeeping. Pressing a small button on it, the blade pops out, and I hold it behind my back.

 

*knock knock*

 

I wait patiently, quietly, prepared for whatever gets thrown my way. Even with how prepared I am, I almost jump out of my skin when the door slams open to reveal a pale white figure rushing towards me with a large kitchen knife. Beside his lips are huge gashes that make his mouth look like a huge Cheshire grin.

 

“Dodge right from the foe that greets you with a smile, or you shall forever sleep.”

 

The seemingly meaningless comment that Evan uttered in his sleep flashes through my mind. I barely miss the blade as I duck right and swing my leg up to kick him down. He loses his balance slightly from putting all of his energy into the first blow, and I use it to my advantage in landing a swift kick to his ribs.

 

He coughs once, but recovers quickly and takes a jab at my neck. I knock his arm away with surprising force and hold my own knife to his neck. The kitchen knife he was holding falls out of his hand and down the steps, disarming him and putting him at my mercy.

 

Pressing hard against his neck, I duck behind him and hold his body still. A small bead of dark red blood bubbles up from under the knife’s blade, and he holds his hands up in surrender. I move my leg to kick his feet out from under him and pin him on the ground with a triumphant grin.

 

Before I am able to do anything else to him, a thick black rope of some sort wraps around my waist, hoisting me off of the ground and away from his neck. It squeezes my hips tightly while another one of them snakes up my leg and restrains me from kicking the man standing inches away from me. My feet hang limply below my body as I try to twist around and figure out who has me so tied up. I catch a glimpse of what is wrapped around my midsection and scream. A shiny black tentacle is wrapped around me, pinching my thigh and sides.

 

I twist and turn while trying to kick and pry the black leathery appendages from my body, but they only tighten. The one on my thigh turns me in the air so that I am hanging upside down, and I try to stab at it with my pocket knife. A third tentacle latches onto my wrist and prys the handle from my grasp.

 

The pale white man turns around and stretches his lips into a smirk. Suddenly, I am very aware of my shirt slipping down and bunching up at my collarbone. I growl at him as his eyes trail down my trembling figure until they stop on my now exposed lacey bra.

 

“Nice tits, babe. I’m sure you’re very aware of what tentacles usually do to girls in your current state, right?”

 

A bright red blush creeps up my neck as I realize just what kind of situation I am in. Tears well up in my eyes and I stop struggling as I expect more tentacles to appear and defile my body. My thoughts wander over to Kage and how helpless I feel without his aid, but before even one tear can fall from my eye, a voice startles all three of us.

 

“Put her the fuck down right now!” Kagekao angrily yells as he bounds out of the forest.

 

“Kagekao? What the fuck are you talking about?” The smiling man asks confusedly.

 

“I said put her down Slenderman.” Kagekao growls as his mask turns into a scarily grim expression.

 

I almost cry out I am so happy to see him. The black, leathery, tentacles right my body and put me down, and I run faster that I ever have straight into Kagekao’s arms. The sobs I had been holding back pour out of my mouth and become muffled in the crook of his neck. He pets my hair and rubs my back holding me protectively in his arms.

 

“Kagekao, you know good and well that we wouldn’t do any inappropriate things to her, I apologise on my behalf that I didn’t stop Jeff and that I scared her so badly. We did not know who she was, and I only wanted to make sure.”

 

This voice was a little deeper than my assailant, and had a scratchy undertone that reminded me of the snow screen on older tvs. I calm myself down a little more before turning to see a large white man wearing a tailored black suit. All that I can find wrong with him is his abnormal height and unusual complexion before I reach his face.

 

Another high-pitched sob escapes my throat, and Kage shushes me in a soothing tone.

 

“They didn’t do anything to you, right (Y/N)?”

 

I shake my head side to side while still buried in the warmth of his body. My tired aching body finally gives out after all of the running and overwhelming feelings coursing through my mind and soul. Kage’s serious expression morphs into a scared one as I slump to the ground. He catches me before I hit the ground, and sits himself down in front of me. All I can do is lean on him and let my fear wash away with each tear that falls from my swollen eyes.

 

He rocks me gently, and I turn my head towards the willow tree to calm myself with the gentle swinging branches. I spy Evan in one of the top branches, laying down against the trunk of the tree with a worried look about him. A large snap averts my attention to the forest where I can see Ella sitting on a broken limb sheepishly.

 

Kagekao accidentally brushes up against my ear, causing me to yelp and hiss. He stares down at my makeshift bandaging with worry, and holds me even closer to him.

 

“Kagekao, would you mind telling us who this young woman might be? I thought I told you to stay out of the human world unless you were-”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know! I’ll tell you later, but she’s hurt and needs patching up. She will be not threat to you if she is by my side, she is just a little scared.”

 

“... Fine. Jeff, go get EJ. Make sure he knows that Kagekao has to be in there with him. You know how he can be.”

 

And with that, the smiling man casually walks inside while throwing a glare towards me while Kage motions to Ella to come out. She bounds out of the trees and straight over to where we are sitting. Evan catches on and climbs down, and does the same.

 

The tall faceless man has a visible vein popping out of his forehead, and I the way the shadows are cast on his blank face, I can tell that his is confused and annoyed. His serious stare harshly bores into Kagekao, but he keeps his expression never wavers with any uncertainty.

 

“Come inside, we will get you rooms and help you with anything you need. I grant you complete safety. You may stay as long as you like.”

 

I get the feeling that we won’t be leaving this place any time soon...


	11. Relocating Mission (part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have about 10 different chapters already planned out from a couple of drabbles to actual story progressors. LOVE YOU GUYS! GIVE ME ANY FEEDBACK YOU HAVE BC I LOVE ALL OF IT! Enjoy! =D

 

I take a deep, shaky, breath as I gingerly swipe the tears from my eyes. Placing my hands on Kage's shoulders, I push myself up and out of his lap. I quickly turn and hug both Ella and Evan before holding a hand out to him. He takes it and rises to his feet in one swift move. Blushing slightly, I separate our hands.

We half-heartedly smile at each other before turning and walking inside. Once I get closer to the door again, I see that the inside of it is not nearly as worn down and dirty as the outside of it. The white flaking paint that is showing on the outside has been scraped off and replaced with a fresh and glossy new coat of paint on the inside. The inside of the house also looks pretty homey and warm compared to how I first thought it would be. It seems to be just like a normal house for well paid people.

I stare at the tall, skinny, man and realize that I can never possibly even come close to killing him or even hurting him. I turn my head away as his jaw moves to say something.

"The bedrooms are upstairs, and the ones that have doors open are free for the taking. I do not know how many vacant rooms there are in the house, but they are already furnished and well cleaned. Dinner will be ready around eight, and Jack's room is near the basement stairs. Kagekao, you show them the house and tell them the rules. You take responsibility for their actions."

Kage nods his head and gently grabs onto my hand, leading me down a small entrance hallway to a polished hardwood staircase. From where I am standing, I can see that there is an open living room with a large TV set and many pieces of furniture. On a bean bag close to the TV, I can see a head of dirty blonde hair and elfish ears. A few mumbled words are directed at the TV as the person plays what I think is Dark Souls 2.

'I really hope those ears are just body modifications...'

Kage lightly pulls me along and I pick up my pace to match his. His absent expression stays glued to his mask, and he keeps his gaze straight in front of him. I pout and turn to see what the kids are doing. They trail behind us a few steps, giggling quietly and poking at each other as if nothing has happened. I will never understand how optimistic kids can be sometimes.

We reach the top of the staircase and find that it is connected to a wide hallway. The lighting on this path is considerably dimmer, but the warm glow from below the banister keeps the hall somewhat lighter. For the first time since we've been outside, Kage's expression changes. I immediately turn to look at him, but he squeezes my hand once to tell me to keep looking straight.

"Be really careful in this house. Even the slightest mishap and all hell could break loose. These people here are killers, and I just want you to have a little bit of an insight to them. Some of them are extremely proud of it, so if you object to their passionate feelings about their living, you could end up as their next victim. Even now with your newfound abilities, they have a lot more training and skill that they have acquired through all of their 'outings'." He stops and takes a small breath, his shoulders slump down a tiny bit and I swear I can hear a small sniffle.

"Just... be careful if you aren't around me... I don't want you to get hurt."

I feel really touched that he cares about me, but I also feel somewhat offended.

'Does he really think I can't take care of myself? I was on the police force for God's sake! This can't be as bad as he's describing it to be, right?'

Still occupied by my thoughts, I don't realize that Kage has stopped by an open door. His arm stops me from taking another step, and I turn to give him a sheepish smile.

"This is the only open room..."

A frown works its way onto my features as we both stare into the small plain room. I know that it won't be big enough for three people at all, but a small optimistic feeling bubbles up inside my chest. I correct my slumped posture and take a deep breath before opening my mouth.

"We'll be fine here. I can sleep with these two. It's perfect."

I know that it's a complete lie, and from Kage's expression, he doesn't believe it either. Before he can say anything for or against it, Ella harshly pulls on Kagekao's scarf, pulling him down so he is eye level to her.

His eyes are wide with surprise as the child fiercely glares straight into them. She stomps her foot on the glossy wooden planks under her and makes a loud bang.

"We will get our own room. We are not going to share with anyone. That is final." She growls with a tone laced in poison.

All of the sudden, she lets go and smiles cutely at both of us. All we can do is stare at her with shock as she takes hold of Evan's small hand and skips into the room without bothering to flip the light switch. She turns to face us with one last smile as her eyes faintly glow in the dark shadows of their room before the door slams shut with a loud bang.

Kagekao turns and faces me with an unnerved look, making me lightly chuckle.

I sidle up to the door and quickly say a few parting words to the kids as I scan Kagekao's expression to see if there is any hint of nervousness. When I find that there is none, I finally open my mouth.

"Keep the door locked until either of us comes back to get you, am I clear?"

"Yeah..." They say together with an annoyed tone.

...

"Well I guess you're staying with me then..." He says matter-of-factly as he rubs the back of his neck and smiles politely.

"...Seems like it."

We awkwardly stand there for a second before he squeezes my hand and smiles kindly. The leather of his glove brushes across the slightly calloused skin of my hand, and soothes the tender flesh. We then continue our journey down the hallway with him guiding me until we come to a stop outside of one of the rooms.

He lets go of my hand and reaches down inside the neck of his hoodie to pull out a small bronze key. It is elaborately decorated to match the swirling patterns around the key slot. He turns the key in the lock, and with a small click, the door is opened to reveal a moderately sized room blanketed in darkness. When Kage takes a step forward and flips the light switch, I have to shield my eyes from the contrast of brightness coming from the room compared to his room.

When my eyes adjust to the light, I find that his room is decorated with a few band posters against the white walls, a simple black queen sized bed, a black wooden desk near the window, and white fluffy carpet. He slips off his tennis shoes at the door and puts them against the door before turning around and smiling.

"Mi casa es su casa. Make yourself comfortable."

I follow his lead and wiggle my feet out of my mud coated sneakers before placing them next to his shoes. I find that my socks are covered in a thick layer of dust and sweat, so I drape them over top of my laces.

Standing back up to my full height, I watch Kage slip out of his regular dark grey hoodie and white shirt, showing his bare chest before turning to walk over to a small set of drawers. He pulls out two clean black shirts before tossing his dirty clothes into a hamper a couple of feet from him.

With that, he turns back to me and flashes a smug smile. He throws me one of the shirts, and I catch it out of the air automatically.

"Like what you see?"

"Psh, you wish."

He fakes a hurt expression and sniffles a couple of times. A small white tear even forms below his eye on the black side of his mask. I disregard him and take another look around the simple black and white themed room. I notice a closed black door in the far side of the wall that doesn't have a lock of any sort, but a small brass doorknob.

The light from the ceiling catches the knob and sends a small reflected light straight into my eyes, making me blink and shift my posture an inch or two to the right.

"That's the bathroom; you can go ahead and change in there. There's no lock on the door, but I will be able to tell if you are in there or not. You're welcome to use anything I have in there. Just yell if you need anything else."

I nod without prying my eyes away from the shining knob and make my way over to the door. Something about it just pulls me towards it anyway; like I have seen it somewhere before.

Time Skip

After cleaning myself up a little bit and putting on clean clothes, Kage and I meet up at the door. He grabs my dirty clothes and throws them into the hamper before tying the top of it in a knot and placing it just outside the door.

"After you, then." I say in as much of a cheery voice I can muster.

He simply nods and continues down the path we were walking before. I can't help but feel that the house is a lot larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. As we pass some of the other closed rooms, I can hear a few people muttering to themselves, blasting music from their speakers, humming, and even a few embarrassing noises.

After about five more minutes of walking down the hallway, we come to an older looking wooden door. It has splinters and rotted places deforming its once glossy surface as well as rusty hinges.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah, EJ is down here."

Kage cautiously opens the door; which releases a harsh creak reverberating off of the walls behind and ahead of us. There are a large set of concrete stairs leading down to an open room at the very end of the landing.

We tread lightly down the deteriorating steps as our footfalls keep echoing off of every surface near us. As we near the door, I see that it is held slightly ajar and a dim luminescence casting a small silhouette of the door on the opposite wall. Metallic clanging noises and the sound of a knife scraping against a plate invade my ears as the slip through the small opening in the door.

Kage lightly pushes the door, and enters the room. I follow closely behind with bated breath as he turns and holds a finger up to a now mischievous looking grin on his mask. I shoot him a confused expression, but he only turns around and sneaks along. Now that he has gotten out of the close part of my vision, I can see much more of the room.

It looks like a simple bedroom on one half of the room, but the other half looks like a doctor's office; completely decked out with an operating table, shelves lined with jarred organs, and a large set of labeled drawers of medical supplies. While I survey the room, I realize that Kage has been quietly sneaking towards the medical side of the room towards a counter at the end of the room.

A man about the same height as him is facing towards the wall and looks as if he is eating something off of a plate on the counter. The sounds I heard from earlier briefly flash through my mind while Kage inches ever closer to him. In the last second before Kage attacks him, the man picks up what looks to be a scalpel next to him and whirls around to face Kage.

The scalpel in his hand is millimeters away from Kagekao's neck, but before I can even take action, the expression of pure malice from the man's face turns into disbelief.

"Holy shit. Kagekao is that you?"

"In the flesh, buddy. Watch the neck."

"Don't you know not to sneak up on me like that?"

 

The scalpel drops from his hand and falls to the floor with a loud clang as he holds his hand out for Kage. They do some sort of intricate handshake and laugh. All I can do is stand there, extremely confused.

'Is this how people greet each other in this house?'

I take a few steps forward so I can get a better look at this guy, but I still stay out of his sight; a shy feeling bubbling up inside me. I realize this has to be EJ, but he's not what I pictured him to be. His skin is an ash grey pigment and there is an inky black substance oozing from sockets where his eyes should be, but otherwise he looks like a normal college kid.

As he talks to Kagekao, I can see a sticky red fluid is coating his teeth and the edge of his lips. Leaning a little farther around Kage to see the counter behind him, I spot a plate with a raw, shredded heart limply sagging halfway off of the plate.

Before I can move back behind Kagekao, EJ catches my stare and turns his whole body to face me. His being gives off a generally pissed vibe, and I can see small twitches in his fingers towards what looks like a mask behind him. He looks like he is contemplating whether or not to grab it or hit me.

"Who is this woman?" He sneers.

In seconds, the air around me becomes tense as my livid stare bores straight into EJ's eyes. A guttural din releases from my throat and my eyesight changes to a red tint again.

"And what are you, some sort of shitty Hannibal knockoff?" I hiss right back at him.

All I can see is his offended look before Kagekao takes a step between the both of us and holds his hands up. My anger subsides just a little bit, but I still want to hit Jack.

"Hey, hey, girls you are both pretty. EJ this is (Y/N), (Y/N) this is my best friend Eyeless Jack."

"A pleasure..." We both say in unison. Our sarcastic tones reflect off of each other and bounce off of the walls of the concrete room.

Kagekao turns to me and whispers a few words in my good ear.

"He's a really nice and caring guy once you get to know him. He's just a little pissed that someone besides me saw him without his mask on."

When he backs away from me, I can see that EJ's demeanor has become more welcoming than before. He is rubbing the back of his neck and looking away from my eyes with an almost embarrassed look on his face.

He holds out a hand and catches my gaze again. I warily place my hand in his palm and shake it slightly. He forces his eyes up to mine and opens his bloodied mouth to say something.

"I'm sorry I was rude, Kagekao is right. I don't let anyone see my face usually. You caught me off guard, and I already haven't been having the best day. Sorry."

I am still taken aback as he steps back and smiles politely. All I can do is nod and stare at him with a dumfounded expression.

"So, where have you been? I haven't seen you in months."

"I was originally staying at the bar, but then I ran into some trouble with another cult. I think it was a branch of Chernabog*. I killed the leader, and then a couple who were just messed up human beings."

"So where does (Y/N) come into play?"

"The cops were after me because of the murders, so they put their star detective on the case to take care of it. She ended up snapping, and the cops came looking for us. We had nowhere else to go, so we came here. We weren't tracked."

"Shit, are you guys okay?"

"That's why I brought her here. (Y/N), show him."

I walk towards them and turn my wounded ear in his direction while untying the knot in my makeshift bandage. It falls into my hand and I see just how much blood is coating it before wadding it up in a fist.

"Come over to the counter so I can clean it up."

I follow him over to the counter he was just eating on and stand next to a sink in it. He takes a washcloth and runs it over a warm tap before squeezing out the excess water and turning to me.

"Hold on, this might sting."

He places the warm washcloth against my wound, and I wince from the pain. He tenderly rubs the dried blood off of my neck and ear, but when he finishes, he makes a beckons for Kagekao to take a look.

Kage and EJ stare at my ear and prod it a couple times. I clench the ripped fabric in my hand to try and ease the pain coming through it.

"Now tell me if my eyesight is failing me. Is there a wound there or not?"

"I can't see anything."

"What?" I ask. "There is a wound there, it hurts like hell!"

"There's nothing here, look."

Kage hands me a small mirror, and I adjust it to where I can see the side of my ear. I gasp and reach up with my other hand to touch it. When I do, I still wince from pain, but I can clearly see that nothing is there.

"How long ago did you get this wound?"

"About an hour ago; a bullet went straight through my earlobe."

While they keep inspecting my ear, I move my hands back and place them on the counter so I can sit on it. When I put my full force on my right hand, I yelp as a sharp object pierces right through it. When I bring it up to where I can see it, I spot a scalpel sticking out of both sides of my hand.

"FUCK! That hurt!"

EJ takes hold of my impaled hand and gives me a funny look before motioning for Kagekao to come next to him. He places his other hand in my uninjured one and gives the injured one to Kage.

"Squeeze my hand as hard as you can. Kagekao, hold her hand steady."

"Wait-"

With one jerk upwards, the scalpel is pulled from my hand and releases a gush of blood running down my arm.

"You ass! That fucking hurt!"

Even with all my struggling to pull my wounded hand to my chest, Kage holds it completely still. Jack leans over me and opens a cabinet right behind my head before pulling out a clean washcloth and running it under the water again.

I squeeze his other hand as hard as I can to get back at him for pulling the scalpel out without me being ready, but he shows no sign of pain on his face. Turning to my hand again, I try my hardest to pull my hand out of Kage's grasp, but to no avail.

EJ wipes the blood from my wound, even with all my struggling and curses directed straight at him. When he has cleared it all away, he sighs.

"You can let her go."

Kage releases me and I hold my pulsing hand to my chest. I take a look at where the laceration should be, but find nothing again. When I see that nothing is there, the pain instantly ebbs away.

"What... the hell?"

Suddenly, we hear the door upstairs slam open and the sound of small feet pattering down the steps. Evan and Ella come rushing in out of breath. They both have smiles on their faces and are panting.

"Lunch is ready! Come on!" They say before hightailing it back upstairs.

EJ turns to both of us with a sheepish grin and places the bloodied scalpel down on the counter as far away from me as possible.

"We will continue this later, but for now let's get lunch."

I have never heard a more beautiful sentence in all of my life.

 

*Chernabog: part of Slavic mythology. One of the cults that worshipped him supposedly turned Jack into his current form as "the Son of Chernabog"


	12. Getting Settled

 

After following Ella and Evan the best I can, I find myself in a large dining room with a long table stretching all the way across the whole expanse of the room. The whole room is decorated with red and gold as I look around. I find the table to be the most beautiful, covered with a lovely flowery pattern etched into the wood and accented with shimmery golden shadows.

The kids come running out of a side room with a younger girl clad in a simple pink dress. Her curly auburn hair bounces against her back as she runs after Ella and Evan to three smaller chairs placed at a smaller (but still as intricately decorated) table in the far corner of the room. She glances up at me as the three of them speed past to get dibs on chairs. Her milky hazel eyes glue themselves to mine again from her position at the table as I start to make my way over to them.

“I thought I told you two to stay in your room until I told you that you could come back out again.” I state in a firm tone. “What am I going to do with you?” I sigh.

Ella and Evan turn to each other before turning back to me and shrugging nonchalantly. I roll my eyes and scoff at their attitude and face the little girl sitting next to them. A kind grin works its way onto my lips.

“Are you going to introduce me to your new friend, or are you gonna make me do it myself?”

“Sally, this is (Y/N), our big sister.”

Sally smiles shyly up at me before waving politely. I return her small wave and she timidly opens her mouth to speak.

“I’m Sally, and I-I am… e-eight years old. Y-You’re pretty.”

I almost squeal with how cute she is, but I can feel Ella and Evan’s annoyed aura swirling around them.

“Thank you! I think that you are prettier, though.”

She blushes and hides behind her hair, slumping down into her seat a little more. I can hear a faint “thank you” from behind her curly curtain of hair. I give one last glare towards Ella and Evan to make sure they get the “behave or you die” message, and then turn towards the door they ran out of.

I hear the slapping of shoes against wood come from the hallway I followed the twins down and turn to see Kagekao and EJ both sprinting towards me.

“What the hell were you thinking running off like that?” Kagekao scolds me once he gets close enough.

“Oh, so now you’re mad at me? I’m just trying to keep the only family I have left safe!” I harshly snap back at Kagekao who seems to be taken aback by my sudden change in mood. I really didn’t mean to be so harsh. I close my eyes, and with a huff, my expression softens as I try to calm myself down.

“I’m sorry. I-” He starts.

“It’s fine.”

“But-”

“I said, it’s fine.”

With that, I continue walking towards the door I was heading to earlier. He lets out a small cry of protest, but it falls on deaf ears as I push the door open. Nothing is out of the ordinary in this room. It looks like a typical kitchen you would see in a nice restaurant except spotlessly clean.

I take a few cautious steps into the room, but stop as I hear a sudden clang of pots against one another. The sound comes from the other end of the room and behind a large shelf of condiments, but still makes my heart skip a beat. I hear a few muffled curses before the sound returns in a much quieter manner, like they were putting them back in place.

“Hello?” I voice as the cookware stops clanging against each other. I take a few steps to the side so I can see around the shelf, but I can't see anybody there.

“Ah, you must be the new girl I was told about.” A man’s voice that comes from behind me says in a calm tone.

I spin around and come face to face with a guy around my age with dark black, slightly wavy short hair, and stunning light blue eyes. He smiles politely and holds out his hand to me.

“It's nice to meet you,” He starts. I pick up on how high his voice is compared to a regular grown man's. “I'm Helen.”

As I take hold of his hand, I also notice how smooth they are and how lightly he shakes my hand. There is a small smudge of paint on his fingertip, so I automatically note that he seems to be a painter.

“(Y/N), nice to meet you too. That is-”

“Yes, I know it's a girly name.” He huffs and sighs with a look of… disappointment?

“I wasn't going to say that.”

He turns to me, confused, as he stares at me in disbelief. “What were you going to say then?”

“I was going to say that it was pretty.”

His eyes widen and he tries to hide the blush crawling up the back of his neck. I chuckle at this and can't help but to think that he is pretty cute.

“(Y/N), where- oh hey BP, I see you've met (Y/N) already.” Kagekao says as he pushes through the door.

“BP? What does that stand for? Er, I'm assuming that it stands for something…”

Helen crosses his arms and gives a slightly threatening look towards Kagekao who is unfazed and has a sly grin plastered onto his mask. Apparently it wasn't something Helen wanted me to know.

Because I'm still a kind of mad at Kagekao, devious little thoughts scatter about my mind. I hide a mischievous smile and chose one. I decide to make him a little jealous. After all, a jealous boy is really a faithful boy. If they don't care that someone else has your attention, it's because they have their attention on someone else too. Or maybe not. Oh well, it’s worth a shot.

I pout and clasp my hands behind my back in a shy way, then top it off with looking down at my feet.

“Y-You don't have to tell me i-if you don't want to Helen…” I make sure to say in a sickeningly sweet voice. Seriously, it's so sweet I fear I might get diabetes.

Both guys stop everything they were doing and stare at me. They look at each other once; giving each other a glare that seems to say ‘she's mine’, before returning back to normal and looking at me again.

“It stands for bloody painter, my alias. You can call me whichever you like.”

I hum in agreement and turn back to Kage. I can tell that he has caught on to my little scheme, and that he is pretty mad at me, but I almost burst out laughing at the expression he is giving me. The paint of his eye twitches between angered and normal and his smile lessen a bit into more of a grimace.

“I thought Ella and Evan said lunch was ready? I don’t see anything…”

“We all had leftover pizza today… Slender told us we couldn’t waste food. There’s some more in the fridge, I could heat it up for you. Do you want it?”

I giggle slightly and shake my head. It’s really surprising to me that they would be eating pizza with a dining room and kitchen looking so fancy.

“Nah, I’m not really that hungry anymore… Kage?”

Helen’s jaw clenches at Kagekao’s nickname as I let it slip out of my mouth accidentally. I almost burst out laughing at how childish they both are acting, but I hold it in. I really meant to stop teasing them there, but the expressions they keep giving me really don’t make me want to stop.

“I’ve lost my appetite as well. Would you like to go back to our room and unpack?” He emphasizes his words which drives Helen closer to snapping.

“Yeah, we probably should. It was really nice meeting you, Helen. I hope to see you again soon.”

He waves and I walk back through the door. Ella, Evan, and Sally are still sitting at their little table, but now there are small plates with half eaten pieces of pizza in front of each of them. EJ is with them too, leaning against Sally’s chair and chatting with them.

I puzzle over how the pizza got there for a second before shaking my thoughts away and walking back to them.

“Hey guys Kagekao and I are gonna go unpack, you need to go back to your rooms and do the same. No running around the house until we are all done, clear? If I catch you, you’re going to get it.” I say with a smile and reach over the table to poke both Ella and Evan in the ribs. They giggle and get out of their seats before picking up their plates and walking through the kitchen doors again.

Kage comes out right as they walk through, so he presses himself against the door to hold it for them. He must give them a silly face or something too because they both burst into fits of laughter. I smile and ball my fist as I try to keep the sad thoughts from my past few days from slipping into my consciousness. It’s hard, something as big as your mother figure dying in your arms doesn’t just like to stay hidden in the back of your mind.

Because I am distracted, I don’t see Kage walk in front of me. When my mind registers is presence, the first thing that I see is a goofy grin. I burst out laughing, covering my mouth when I accidentally snort.

“Haha, what was that? Was that a snort I heard?”

“Oh shut it. Let’s go!” I playfully punch his arm, and he holds it and lets out a groan of mock pain.

“Oww, why would you do that? That huuurt.”

“No it didn’t, baby.”

“Ooh now we’re giving each other pet names? What should I call you?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” I sputter. He can tell that I am getting pretty flustered and I really can’t do anything about it, which satisfies him for the moment.

“Alright, I’m done. Let’s go back to our room and do some unpacking then.” He places a tender hand on my shoulder and grins. I return his smile and look over his shoulder to see Ella and Evan saying goodbye to both Ej and Sally. We start walking back the way we came, not wanting to get lost, with Ella and Evan in tow.

Time Skip

“No, no, NO, NO! WHERE DID I PUT IT? Did I drop it? But where would it be? Oh shit, shit, shit, shit.”

Kage just stares at me from across the room as I continue my hysterics and frantically run about the room searching. He goes to ask me about just what is making me so upset, but I let out another yell.

“What the hell?! Where is it?!”

“-(Y/N)... calm down. Tell me what’s-”

“I CAN’T CALM DOWN, HER PICTURE IS IN THERE! IT’S ALL I HAVE LEFT!”

Kage sighs and then takes a deep breath. If I could think clearly at the moment, I would be proud that he was putting up with me so much.

“(Y/N), stop. Tell me what’s wrong.” He began. “I can’t help you if you don’t calm down and tell me.”

His calm, reassuring tone makes me stop. My eyes are already brimming with tears, I know that there is no possible way it is here, but I don’t want to believe it is gone.

“M-my bag… I must have dropped it when I was running with Evan… I- IT CAN’T BE GONE! SHE CAN’T BE GONE!” Just admitting it aloud makes me finally give up my last hope.

With that, I slump to the floor and cover my face with my hands. Sobs rack through my whole body, and all I can do is cry. I feel Kagekao’s rushed footsteps through the floor as he runs from the bed over to where I am laying. He sits down next to me and pulls my whole body onto him, wrapping me in his warmth.

I bury my face into his shoulder and grab onto the scarf now tightly wound around his neck. It is softer that I thought it would be, which takes my mind away from my thoughts for a brief second. Kage whispers little reassuring statements into my ear and runs a gentle hand through my strands of hair.

“Shh, it’s okay. I will get it back for you in no-”

“NO! You CAN’T go! I don’t want to lose you too! The guys that are after me have seen you with me. They will kill you if they find you...”

My body shakes with every sharp intake of breath and whimper, and all poor Kage can do is hold onto me like his life depends on it.

I feel him slip off his mask and practically throw it away from the pair of us as he nuzzles his cheek into the side of my head. It is the sweetest gesture he could ever do in this moment, and it was meant to calm me down, but my desperate cries just increase in volume.

“She’s gone, Kagekao, she’s gone! She’s never coming back, and it’s all my fault…”

Kage stops all of his actions and stays like that for a few seconds. I feel confused, and my shuddering breaths die down into sniffles. He grips tightly onto my shoulders and jerks me away from the comfort of his shoulder. The stern look on his face catches me off guard and scares me into staying quiet.

“Listen to me. It was NOT your fault. Never EVER tell that to me again. You could not have known, (Y/N). Never… say that… again.” His words start breaking up as his own eyes start filling with tears. My eyes and mouth are wide with disbelief and I can’t even move I am so shocked. He suddenly looks terrified. Like he finally realized what he said and hopes with his whole being that I don’t hate him.

My hand moves almost on its own and gently caresses the side of his face. The slight stubble on his grey cheek brushes softly against my hand and all I can mutter out is a breathy “ok”.

He slowly leans forward and brings me into a tender embrace. The seemingly endless flow of tears between us stops and we stay with our full attention on only each other. We sit there for what feels like forever, just enjoying each other’s company and listening to our soft breathing. When we do finally pull away, the only evidence left to show that we were crying is the swollen pink skin around our eyes.

“I will ask Slender if he can try to retrieve it for you. He will be able to get it without getting hurt. I will stay here with you in the house, ok?” He whispers to me.

I nod my head a couple of times and let my gaze fall to the floor. He runs his hand through my hair one last time before getting up and holding out a hand for me. I take it, and he gently pulls me off of the floor.

“I will go and tell Slender about what has happened. Go ahead and take a nice long shower, it will hopefully ease your stress a little bit.”

I nod again and watch as he reluctantly turns to leave. I silently watch him exit the room, and then stand there for a few seconds more just staring at the closed bedroom door.

I sigh and break my trance to walk over to his dresser. I pull open a drawer and lightly rummage through the folded clothes for a hoodie or large T-shirt I can wear. I happen upon a black hoodie and a pair of grey sweatpants. I really don’t care at this point either, and look through his underwear drawer for a pair of boxers that could possibly fit me. Finding a pair, I then shut the drawers and head to the other door in the room that leads to the bathroom.

Opening the door and setting the clean clothes on the sink, I turn and quietly close the door before peeling off the sweat smelling clothes I was wearing earlier.

“There is no way I will be able to wear this until it is washed... “ I grumble as I hold my unhooked bra far away from my nose. The pungent odor of sweat is soaked deep into the fabric.

Slipping off my underwear, I mess with the shower handle and hold my finger under the running water until it is a comfortable enough temperature. I step into the steaming hot water. It burns my skin at first, but it is not so uncomfortable that I feel like stepping back out of it. The water streams every which way down my aching, dirt and dust-covered body. I turn around and let the water soak through my hair and weigh it down a little, but it feels nice to have the warmth coat my scalp.

I just stand there under the soft pounding of the water from the shower head, enjoying the sound of water hitting the floor and washing away my worries for the time being. I hum a small, calming tune that pops into my head after a few minutes of listening to the water. I then open my eyes and reach for a bar of soap on a ledge in the shower.

Running it over every scratch, dip, and curve along my skin, I sigh in contentment. The soap is soft against my calloused hands and bruised skin, and all I can think about is how gently Kage ran his hands over my skin while comforting me. My mind drifts, and I start having little hallucinations almost; of his hands roaming my skin as heat radiates off of it and I feel feverish. It feels nice, it relaxes me in seconds, and I find myself delve deeper into this figment of my imagination.

I see his unmasked, grey face hovering above me with a look of absolute love. It makes my heart swell. Something different with this hallucination though, is that I can feel everything he does to me, whether it be a deeper exhale of breath from him that breaks on my skin, or the soft pad of his fingertip tracing small shapes onto my collarbone. I reach my hand up and feel along his face again like I remember doing before, but this time, it is smooth to the touch. My lips pry themselves open, but before I can hear any words come out, the door to the bedroom opens and shuts.

I open my eyes to find that the bar of soap has stopped near the very inside of my thigh, and blush. No wonder why I was having such a vision enter my mind… I feel slightly embarrassed. Even more so when I realize that this isn’t even my own soap or shower, it’s Kage’s.

I sigh and let the water run over every inch of my body one last time before turning the water off. I wring my hair out as best as I can, and step out of the shower space. I grapple for a towel that is hanging on the rack beside me, and the first thing I do is shove my face in it to dry it off.

‘Mmh it even smells like him…’

My eyes open wide when I finally catch on just to what thoughts I have been thinking for the past few minutes. I can’t help but wonder if I am on the verge of fainting from the heat of the water again, but I know full well that I feel completely awake. I blush as a flash of the daydream I was having in the shower enters my mind.

I shake my head and clear my thoughts before drying off the rest of my body. I slip on the pair of black boxer shorts and slide the hoodie over my head before pulling my wet hair from the hoodie and letting it fall limply against my neck and back.

“(Y/N), I’m back. Don’t go running out here naked or anything.” Kage advises me through the door.

I let out a small “yeah” and carry on with putting the sweatpants on. I pick up my pile of dirty clothes and wad them up into a ball of fabric. I then make sure I look okay before opening the bathroom door again.

Kage doesn’t see me yet, but he sits at his desk by the window and stares out of it. He doesn’t have his mask back on yet, and I feel a little twinge of happiness. I like seeing his face, it reminds me of when we first met. I clear my throat a little, not really meaning to break his trance on purpose, and then walk across the room to throw my clothes into his hamper.

He tries to keep his eyes concentrated on the scenery outside, but his eyes flick over to me ever so often as I move about the room. I end up laying face down on his bed with my head buried in a pillow. I am overcome with a feeling of drowsiness, and just let myself slip into a peaceful sleep, hopefully to wake up with a better attitude on life.

(a little earlier) Kagekao’s POV:

I feel really worried about her. She is blaming herself just like I used to, and if it keeps going on like this, she will end up the same way I was for a long time; wallowing in a pit of despair and self loathing. I would never want that to ever happen to someone like her. Especially her.

I keep my pace and listen to my footsteps bounce rhythmically off of the walls as I head down the hallway and towards Slender’s office. I know he will definitely be able to track down her bag, even if it is on the other side of the Earth. My mood still stays very down and sorrowful, though. I can’t stop thinking about the desperate wails coming from (Y/N)’s mouth as she leaned into me with all she had.

I have never heard something so sad in my life. The whole time, I remembered back to when I was first really ‘reborn’ as a creepypasta.

It’s a weird name to be called-I should know, but I was okay when I found out that most of our real stories were being told online, and people were feeling our pain, empathizing with us. The name just stuck because our stories were copied and pasted so much, and most of our stories are pretty creepy. Though, without an explanation it is a weird name to be called, a “creepypasta”.

Anyway, I remember back to when I was adjusting to my new lifestyle as a inhuman being. I had nobody to take me in, because I was so far away from the place where the creepypastas had their ‘home base’ of sorts. I turned into one while still in Japan, the place where I was born. I killed my father, who was a shit father, but he was the only family I had. I had forever blamed myself for my loneliness, and fell into a depression. It wasn’t until I made it over here by accident that I was finally freed from my heartache. Let’s just say accidentally falling asleep on a train was my saving grace.

Without really completely realizing it, I have come to Slender’s office. I stop and stare at the door for a second before shaking my thoughts away and knocking on the door three times.

“Come in.”

I walk through the door and close it shut behind me. I stare at the faceless man in front of me, who has stopped his work to look up at me questioningly.

“(Y/N) lost her bag in the woods when we were running from the police, do you think you could look for it if you are out putting up notes or something? It’s really important to her.”

I can feel his stare boring into my eyes, and silently wish that I had grabbed my mask before I left. He can tell automatically that I have been crying, which sets him a little off guard. I start to feel uncomfortable.

“I was going to head out in about an hour to put up more notes, actually. Apparently the officers who are after (Y/N) are also ripping my notes off of the trees. I shall look for it. Is that all?”

“We only have one bed in our room, do you think we could get another? It doesn’t have to be big or anything, just something I can sleep on.”

“Ah, yes that could be problematic. Unfortunately, we don’t have a spare bed around anymore. It is around the end of the season, so most of the creepypastas are coming back here for the big hunt before going back to their previous residences. I assume you will be able to wait until then.”

“Alright, that is fine. Thank you, Sir.”

“Anytime, Kagekao. I hope you settle back in easily.”

With a nod, I am back out of his office. I am still lost in my thoughts the whole way back to my room, but they are geared towards happier thoughts. I try to keep (Y/N)’s smile in my mind, because I know she will still be sad when I get back. I daydream a little to keep me entertained.

(Y/N) stands at the edge of the hill covered in poppies. She is clad in a billowing white sun dress that blows slightly in the wind as she looks down at Slender House with a smile. I walk up behind her and put my hand on her shoulder. She jumps a little in surprise, but then smiles widely as she realizes that it is only me.

She jumps off of the ground and wraps her arms around my neck as she laughs happily. I grin and place my hands on the small of her back, giving her a small squeeze before releasing her. She smiles brightly at me again before taking off running down the hill and towards the house as fast as she can. I realize that she isn’t wearing any shoes. She looks happy, free- and her playful and happy nature is contagious.

I smile and come back into reality, reveling in my happiness a little longer and opening the door to our room. I can hear the shower still running, so I make my way over to my desk to keep thinking and stare out the window.

As I hear the water turn off, I get up and remind her through the door that I am here and don’t want her to have even more emotional stress weighing her down. I then make my way back to where I was and get lost in my thoughts again.

Thinking about her seems to be all I can do after having such a scare. I decide to push the suggestive thoughts away from me as I hear her clear her throat a little bit. I see out of the corner of my eye that she is wearing one of my hoodies and some loose-fitting sweatpants that cling to her still slightly wet skin. Her hair looks just as pretty wet as it does dry as it frames her face and brings her features out a little more.

She flops down on the bed and snuggles her face into my pillow, soon letting her breathing slow down until she is asleep.

I smile at how cute she looks cuddled up into a single pillow without pulling the blanket up over her at all. I can’t help but think about how cold she will get if she stays like that. I slowly get up out of my chair and make my way over to the bed. I yawn quietly and crawl into the other side of the bed. I take a blanket at the foot of my bed and bring it up over the both of us as I kick my shoes off and onto the floor beside the bed.

A good nap won’t hurt until Slender can find her stuff.

 

Sorry that like 3/4 of the chapter was so depressing. Man, I feel depressed now. BUT, a new, not as depressing chapter is coming up soon!!! Just wait!


	13. Friends and Enemies

I scrunch my eyelids together as I feel tiny little gusts of air blow against my eyelashes. I also feel the warm air flowing over my lips and realize just how dry they are. I lick over them to get rid of the uncomfortable crustiness weighing down on them and slowly pry open my eyes until they are halfway open.

They adjust to the darkness of the room much slower than I would like, and I wrap my arms tighter around whatever I am holding, still not really able to see anything. I just close my eyes again, not really feeling like leaving the cushiony warmth of the bed just yet. I burrow even deeper into the blanket and push myself harder against the pillow in front of me.

“Mmh…”

…

‘Did that pillow just groan?’

My thoughts don’t want to form completely in my still drowsy state of mind, but I really don’t care. I’m warm, I’m still tired, and it’s dark. I’m just going to try to go back to sleep.

“Mmf, (Y/N)... you’re suffocating me.”

I gasp and unwrap my arms from what I thought was a pillow. My mind finally catches up to me, and a blazing scarlet blush covers my face and ears.

“No, don’t leave…”

Kage leans forward and pulls me back to him. I feel what I thought were just covers tightly wrapped my waist shift and grip the fabric of my hoodie. The same goes for my legs, which are so tangled up in his that I can’t even move them.

“Kage, I can’t move…”

“Hmmm?”

I sigh as I realize I won’t be able to rouse him enough to get him to move, so I just give up and settle for trying to go back to sleep again. I squeeze my eyes shut and start to feel the light breaths of air from him hit my eyelashes again. A few seconds more and I know for sure that I won’t be able to go back to sleep in this position. Opening my eyes again, I pull away from the embrace a little to get a better look at his face. I start to notice some little hidden japanese characteristics on it that I hadn’t before; from the way his complexion seems a bit more of a bronze color than a white or a regular tan, to the way his eyes have slightly more defined curve along the top lid. I free my arm from his tight embrace and brush my fingertips along the side of his face. It’s really nice and smooth, but I quickly stop, realizing it’s kind of weird to just be watching him sleep.

I try to wiggle around just enough so that I can face away from him, but I don’t try to get up. I like laying here with him and just having someone care about me this much- even though I wouldn’t like to admit it out loud. I think of it as a sort of guilty pleasure. Then again, I have done nothing except solve crimes since my real parents died, so I never had a guy to care about that was as nice and sweet as Kage- I wasn’t really looking. It doesn’t seem normal for me after turning away from guys for so long. I slowly start to realize just how much of a crush I am gaining on him, and I feel like a little kid, but it makes me happy.

I find myself wishfully thinking about the past few days I have spent with Kage, and just how nice they were. I remember back to when I first saw him in my room, and laugh at the fight we had. I also think about the time I fainted in the bath only to wake up achy, sore, naked, and in front of a drunk Kagekao. I sigh as I think back through all of the wonderful memories I have made since he entered my life, and just how much more fun I have had.

I hear a soft yelp from behind me as Kage rips his arms away from me. I find myself wanting them back, but don’t say anything.

“(Y/N), are you awake? Sorry… I-I didn’t know I was holding onto you…” Kage says sheepishly as his voice quivers a little bit. He’s really cute when he's embarrassed.

“Mm, it's okay.”

“Oh, I talked with Slender about your bag- actually, he should have it now. He doesn't take that long to get back from his outings unless he runs into trouble.”

“Thanks, Kage.”

“No problem.”

A slightly uncomfortable silence forms between us as we start to wonder if we should get up.

“Sooo, you wanna go and see the rest of the house or something? I'm not really tired anymore.” He asks.

“I really don't think I can go back to sleep now, so… yeah, sure. I'd like that.”

I pull the blanket that was tightly wrapped around me away and bunch it up at the foot of the bed. I smile a little bit as I realize he was the one who put it on us.

“You don’t have to put shoes back on or anything. Slender doesn’t care what you do, really. It’s not like a hotel. Think of it more as going to a friend or family’s house for a holiday, except it’s a year round holiday.”

I laugh and nod a little bit. He walks to the side of the room and picks up his mask, then slips it over his head. I feel a little sad that he does so, but I don’t say anything again. The mouth on his mask moves a little bit as he puts it on, and I can’t help but wonder about how it is linked to his own facial expressions again.

We make our way out of the door, close it, and start walking down the hallway to our right. Our thoughts are the same. We want to check up on the twins first and see if we have to deal any punishments.

As we walk down the hallway in silence, we see a group of girls walking up the staircase and towards us. A twinge of nervousness flutters about my chest at the thought of meeting new people.

‘What if I say the wrong thing and they don’t like me? I have to live with these people… and I just hope they are nice to me-’

Kagekao puts his hand on my shoulder, and the look he gives me instantly calms me down. I can’t believe just how much power he holds over me by just giving me a look.

The group talks loudly and pushes each other around a little bit. The first person that catches my eye is a very pale skinned girl with very beautiful long black hair. She smiles wide and stretches her lips a little bit to show off her carefully applied black lipstick to her friends next to her.

As we near the group, that same girl notices our presence and stares straight into my eyes. I do a double take as I see that her sclera are completely black, but they aren’t missing her soul, there is a certain pseudo brightness in her eyes that reveals her emotions.

“Hey, you’re the new girl! Nice to meet you, I’m Jane. And Kagekao, I haven’t seen you in years!”

Her group stops and stays back as she takes a step forward and towards us. She smiles brightly and holds a hand out to me. I take it and match her smile.

“(Y/N). Pleased to meet you.”

We let go of each other and she turns back to her friends, nodding for them to step forward. The two other girls step right up next to her and nod their heads at me in greeting.

I find it interesting that one of them has a pocket watch for an eye- still ticking- and the other girl’s right eye looks similar to Jane’s, except dripping a wet, black substance from it. The one with the watch in her eye pipes up a little.

“I’m Clockwork, and this is Sadie. Nice to meet you.”

I smile at them and open my mouth to reply, but before I can, Sadie cuts me off.

“Kagekao! I didn’t see you there… how are you?” She says this in a suggestive tone, as she bats her eyelashes up at him, completely disregarding me. It instantly pisses me off. She glances over at me once with a disapproving stare, and then flips her blonde hair over her shoulder flirtatiously.

“I’m fine, Sadie…” Kage half growls, like he is trying hard to be nice, but doesn’t really want to. The paint on his mask shifts to a crescent frown.

“It’s-” She opens her mouth and cuts me off.

“Yes, yes, it’s nice to meet you too, sweetie. Where have you been, Kagekao? I missed you so much…” She pouts her lips, making sure that I notice, but before I can step forward and make sure she knows her place, Kage starts speaking.

“Yeah we should probably go, we need to check up on the kids.” He drawls out, making sure it sounds like Ella and Evan are our children.

All three of them stop and stare at me before glancing up at Kagekao and back again. A huge blush coats my face as he stands proudly, thinking he solved the problem. Sadie seems extremely pissed now, and Jane steps a little closer, taking charge again. She gives me a look that seems to say “I’m sorry about her” before actually opening her mouth.

“We were heading to my room, if you would like to swing by later, (Y/N). It is room 27. You’ll know it when you see it.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.” I say to her as I happily grin. I really like the vibe she is giving to me.

They pass by us and continue their conversations. I turn back to see Sadie glaring at me, so I hold my middle finger up to her and mouth “too bad”. I don't even care to see her reaction as I face front again.

“So, what was that?” I ask Kage.

“What was what?”

“Between you and Sadie?”

“She’s my crazy ex girlfriend.”

“Ah, that's why.”

We walk the rest of the way in silence. As we reach the kids’ door, we can hear little fits of giggling. This isn't good. Ella and Evan don't giggle unless they're up to something.

Kage carefully steps forward and twists the knob. He turns back to me and counts down from three, then slams the door open.

In seconds, I see a large bucket filled with water topple off of the ledge on the door and slosh out its contents. Kagekao dodges out of the way just in time before the water hits him.

“Aww, you guys are no fun.” A deep male voice echoes out from the room.

I peek in, only to find the man with the smile carved into his face. Rage overtakes my brain as I rush into the room and grab him by the front of his shirt.

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Easy, easy, I just wanted to greet the new kids! We don't have a lot living here.” The smile on his face still sincerely creeps me out, and I can't help but to think he's some sort of pedo as he talks.

“Jeff, I suggest that you leave…” Kage says softly. He can tell that I'm already on edge because of our run in with Sadie, and I don't need to deal with this guy. I have enough problems to deal with.

I let go of Jeff, and he glances over to Ella and Evan (who were standing by the wall to my right), before calmly leaving through the door.

“(Y/N), w-we’re sorry…” Evan says.

I sigh and then force a pleasant smile on my face. It seems to do its job because the twins both relax a little. I feel kinda bad, it's like lying to them.

Kage doesn't buy the smile like the kids do though, and just looks even more stressed. I feel even worse, thinking about just how much he is getting badly influenced by my behavior.

“You two are alright,” I start and try hard to keep my voice from cracking, “and that's all that matters. Don't let him into your room again, ok?”

“We didn't.” Ella squeaks. “He unlocked the door somehow a-and just came in about, like, five minutes ago…”

Evan nods to back up her claim, and I just wish I would have punched him before he left. Kage’s expression takes a grim turn, the edges of his frown becoming more jagged and sinister.

“Lock the door. Stay here and play, you two.” Kagekao firmly states. He holds out a small flip phone to them, that just seemed to materialize from thin air. “I'm sure you know how to use a phone. If anything goes wrong, find my contact in there and call me.”

They nod and then walk over and take the phone, getting ready to lock the door behind us. Kage and I walk out and make sure the door is securely locked behind us before heading off to find Jeff.

Time Skip

I feel like I just ran a marathon as I sit at the end of the staircase I was just climbing down. With an hour of searching for Jeff gone, we still haven't had any luck. Usually we could go to Slenderman, Kage said, but he still isn't back.

I place my head in my hands and try to calm down a bit. I feel a slight brush of a hand against my shoulder, and I lean into it. I feel really tired and worn out. The stress weighing down on me is a little too much for me to handle right now, and you know it’s even better when those little bitty thoughts of bad things work their way into your mind- little things that you haven’t even thought about in years- some of them so stupid it doesn’t even make sense that you would care about them, but you do anyway.

“They will be alright, we’ll find him, and I’ll get him to stop, don’t worry. Testing people’s limits is kind of Jeff’s thing, and he’ll stop at a certain point- he always does.”

“But when the fuck does he stop? Does he stop after they’re dead- or just severely traumatized?!”

“I wouldn’t fucking do either? Jeez, give me some slack.”

My head snaps up and out of my hands, completely alert and ready to kill as his voice reaches my ears. He stands in the doorway about 5 feet away from us with a stance that just screams “I don’t give a shit”. Kage’s hand tenses up on my shoulder to where it almost hurts- silently warning me to stay put. Everything in my vision is tinted a dark red, bloody color as pure rage fills me to the core. It takes everything I have to hold myself back from ripping out his throat.

“I just wanted to stop by and check to greet ‘em in a better way than I did earlier- gimme a do over?” The tone of voice he gives me is so sly and snake-like, that I can’t help but try to reach forward and at least hit him. Kagekao grasps my shoulders and restrains me in a flash as I struggle to reach forward and attempt to hurt Jeff.

“Oh, shit, seems like I hit a nerve…” He sneers with a menacing grin adding onto his already wide grin.

“You little-mmf!” Kage places a firm hand over my mouth, surprising me, and I accidentally scratch his arm. He hisses a little bit in pain.

The red in my eyes instantly disappears as I stop struggling and look up at him in complete shock and terror. He takes his hand away and looks at the scratch..

“Oh my god, I-I’m sorry, Kage!” I exclaim, immediately regretting putting him in this situation.

“Oh, is she your little pet now, Kage? You should keep her on a tight leash. I’ll keep away from the kids if you keep the fuck away from me, deal?”

“Fine, get the fuck out of here before I hurt you myself, asshole.” Kage growls.

“We wouldn’t want to let it get to that, now would we? Bye bye Kage…”

I look up into Kage’s eyes and then down to his scratch with worry. He seems okay, and the scratch heals in a matter seconds right before my eyes. He frowns and pulls me into a tight hug, squeezing once before letting go of me again.

“Quit worrying about me…” I insist. “It's making me feel worse.”

“How can I not worry about you, when you're acting like this? You also need as much support as possible with such a big change going on in your life. I mean, come on, I want you to depend on me at least a little, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Mm, I know, it’s just… I haven’t depended on anyone this much in my whole life…”

“I understand, but you need to depend on more people than just yourself living here. It’s literally a hell house. You will need the help of a guy who has lived here for a good while...”

I sigh and lean forward into his chest again. He does have a good point, but with so many changes going on in my life, that would probably be the biggest. I don’t like depending on people, because when I do, they almost always seem to die on me...

“Kagekao, (Y/n), I have returned with your possessions.”

I raise my head from Kage to look up at the blood smeared, faceless being in front of me. I feel a little on edge seeing blood again.

“I ran into a bit of trouble with some officers that had your bag, I have collected their remains for Eyeless Jack. I made sure not to spatter any filth on your bag. Here.”

I smile and take the large bag from his hands. Untying the knot at the top and looking inside, I sigh happily when I see my satchel and other belongings still inside. When I look up again to say my thanks, he is already gone.

“Alright, let's really go and unpack this time.”

“Yeah.”

Time Skip

I sit myself down onto the white carpet of Kage’s room. You really don’t know how soft it is until you have sat down on it. Opening the large bag in front of me, I take out my satchel and start to go through it.

There aren’t many things that are important in there besides my phone and the business card the guy at the bar gave me. I wave the small slip of paper at Kage, who has laid himself down in front of me; silently watching me work. He takes it from between my fingers as I continue sorting.

“You should really call him and tell him about not being in town anymore.”

“Yeah, I should. I didn’t show up at work, and that always causes worry. I mean, look at me- would I pass up an offer of free alcohol?”

“I guess not.” I chuckle, not looking up at him.

I hand him my phone and pull out a couple of shirts from my bag. He takes it and starts punching in the numbers on the card. I hear a click on the other side and a muffled male voice come onto the phone. Kage sits up and starts talking while I start pulling out the rest of the stuff out of my hamper bag.

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry. Pffft, no! Oh, shut up. Just called to say that I’m fine and that I won’t be working for a while. Yes, it’s because of that. No, get your mind out of the gutter. Hahaha, of course I will. Bye.”

“That seemed like a very deep conversation.”

“Definitely. Need some help?”

“Yeah, could you find a place to put my stuff in? I need some help getting this sorted out, too.”

“Sure.”

Kage gets up and searches through the drawers in his dresser. Apparently finding an unused drawer, he leaves it open, walks back to me, and sits down. We then dump the rest of what is in the bag onto the floor. I catch a small glimpse of a frame in the pile and reach down to pull it out, catching a corner and carefully lifting it.

I gasp as I look at the picture inside the frame. It’s a picture of Catrina at her last birthday party which was about two months ago. She was looking affectionately up at the banner we made for her with her head rested on her hand and her tired eyes filled with a certain sparkle. I remember back to when I took it and how after I took the picture she got embarrassed, and told me to delete it, which I then took it into my hands to frame it. It was probably the best picture of her.

I smile sadly down at the picture, and see Kage frown and look a little concerned. I place the picture down next to me and sigh.

“We should have a funeral… Do you think we can?”

“Of course we can. Whenever you want.”

I quickly sort the rest of the pile of things out and put them away in my empty drawer before heading back over and picking the picture back up off of the floor. Kagekao stares at me and tries hard to read my expression, so I just smile for him and hold out a hand for him. He takes it and I pull him up so our chests are only inches away from each other. Kage is the first one to break the stare, and I see a small pink blush smeared along his jaw and down to the base of his neck. I cover my mouth and stifle a giggle, which just makes the blush even worse.

“C’mon. Let’s go ask Slender about when we can have the funeral.” He half whispers.

“Yep.” I reply as I take his hand and let him lead me back through the door.


	14. Comfort and Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for all of the procrastination and depressing chapters, I have put a little fluff in there for you guys. Not too much, just some flirting and stuff, but still. There’s some nice innuendos in there too, though. :P

Your POV:

Kage gently pulls me alongside him as I keep looking around me. This is a different part of the house that I haven’t seen yet; with peeling pearl and gold striped wallpaper, faded wooden doors from age, small cobwebs in corners, the occasional decorative table with old dead flowers on it- this and that. I find happiness in looking at the intricately weaved webs and the small warps in the wallpaper that create little curves in the design as we walk. Trippy.

We come to a set of large, wooden, office doors, and only then does Kage let go of my hand to knock. Not much later, we both hear a muffled “come in”, and slowly open the double doors. Behind them is a large office that is filled with crammed bookshelves, little knickknacks, and tons of piles of paper littered about the room. Slenderman stops and looks at us from his desk with an older style fountain pen in his hand ready to ink the paper below it. 

“What can I help you with?” He asks with his voice low and broken up like static.

I start talking before Kage can even make a sound. “I wanted to ask if we could have a little funeral in the backyard for my mother. It won’t be anything big, we’ll probably just bury something and put a picture there as a tombstone.”

He seems a little surprised by my request, but not too surprised. He sets the pen down into a small inkwell beside his paper and folds his hands against each other. I think he smiles, the skin around his jaw pulls taut.

“Yes of course. You may do whatever you wish in how you mourn your loved one.”

I return his smile and nod my head a little bit in acknowledgement and thanks before opening the door back up and leaving. Kage follows close behind me as we exit the office. He takes hold of my hand again, which I know he has no reason to, we’re just going back to our room. He squeezes my hand to get me to look at him, and I giggle when I see the crooked smile on his mask. He runs his thumb over my knuckle as he makes more faces at me. We then start to head back to the room to gather our things.

Time Skip

After grabbing the photo of Catrina and getting the kids from their room, we start heading out to the field. As soon as we get outside, a warm, early summer breeze blows my hair off of my shoulder, making it softly swish behind my head. I smile and sigh into the breeze as the kids run out and fall into the grass by the willow tree.

“Where should we have it?” I ask Kagekao quietly as I watch him close his eyes and enjoy the light breeze as well.

The eyes on the mask shift open as he looks at me with a neutral look. “We can have it anywhere you want. It’s your choice to make.”

I heave a sigh and look down at my toes, brushing the tip of my big toe against my other foot lightly. I haven’t put shoes back on, and they feel just a little cold from the breeze blowing against them. I raise my head and look at towards the top of the poppy hill remembering the day before when we first got here. I squint my eyes as I spot something a lot taller than the small poppy flowers. It sways in the breeze, piquing my interest even further as I stare at it. It faces the sun, standing alone, but still tall and proud. I hop off of the porch and make my way up the slope.

As I near the top of the hill, I can see that the thing I spotted was a large sunflower. I stop right next to it, and crouch down so my eyes are level with the petals of the it. I reach a hand out and gently run the tip of my finger against the soft, silky petals of the flower and all the way down the stem to where it connects with the earth. 

I don’t know exactly why I do it, but I pull it out of the ground. Dirt falls from the winding and tangled roots that were just seconds ago buried under a thick layer of soil. I feel like it shouldn’t belong there, and it needs a better resting place where it can grow, otherwise the poppies would suffocate and drown its bright glow in a sea of red and black.

I hold the sunflower delicately in my hands and carry it back down the hill. I take care to place my feet between the poppy flowers, as not to crush them with each step. Kage walks off of the porch and meets me near the willow tree. He smiles and points his finger to an open place near the edge of the forest that is uncovered by the poppies. I follow his finger to where he is pointing with his eyes slowly and curiously.

“That place never grows poppies for some reason. They stay away from that one spot. We can have the funeral there if you want.”

“It’s perfect…”

I scan under the willow tree to find the kids, but I can’t see them there anymore. I search the swinging branches, the edge of the clearing, but I can’t seem to find them at all.

“Where…?”

“They went behind the house to find some rocks or something, they will be right back.”

As soon as he says that, both Ella and Evan come bounding around the corner with armfuls of medium sized stones. I stare at them in surprise as they run up to us with gleeful smiles on their faces.

“We got rocks to make a circle around the grave!” Ella starts.

“We thought it would look pretty, and Catrina always loved the rocks we brought her.” Evan finishes for her. Evan’s eyes widen as he drops one of the many stones in his arms and leans down to pick it up, but in doing so he drops a few more. Kage and I laugh as he frustratedly keeps picking up the rocks he keeps dropping. Kage beds down and picks up a few rocks left on the ground and takes them into his own hands.

“Would you like me to stay?” He says as he turns back around to me and questioningly holds a stone out to me. “I could go inside if you want to do this privately. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

I shake my head back and forth. “Now why would you think I wouldn’t want you here? Of course I want you here.” I huff a little bit, pouting.

He smiles at me and chuckles. “I should have known you would say that.”

We walk over to the small open area occasionally picking up fallen rocks left by Ella and Evan. We lay the stones down in a circle, leaving room in the middle. I reach down to dig some dirt out to put my flower in, but Kage puts a hand on my shoulder and stops me. 

“No, let me do it.” He states while he unsheathes his claws. He crouches down next to me and rakes a few layers of dirt out of the way before backing away and giving me room to plant it. I set it right into the little hole and pile the dirt back on top of it, getting little fine chunks of it stuck underneath my fingernails. I then place the picture frame up right in front of the flower. 

I stand back up, and all of us smile down at the pretty sight. Kage reaches down and takes hold of my hand as Evan takes my other. Ella stands on the other side of Kage, lightly holding his pointer finger in her small hand. We all close our eyes and bow our heads.

I open my mouth to speak, clearing all of the bad thoughts out of my head and replacing them with the good memories of her. “C-Catrina was the best mom anyone could have ever had, whether they were related to her or not. She never failed to make you smile or feel better, always looking out for other people before taking care of herself. Anyone who knew her would know that she d-… died without ever having done wrong to any of those around her. May she be resting in peace forever.”

Time Skip

I am proud of myself for not crying at the funeral as I sit on the counter by the kitchen sink drinking a hot cup of coffee. I didn’t bother to put any sweetener in it, hoping that it would cure that last bit of drowsiness with its bold and strong taste. It seems to be working.

Kage sent the kids upstairs to play in their room or with Sally, and then came back down and poured two cups of still warm leftover morning coffee from a large thermos that was left on the kitchen counter. 

He holds a cup up to his slightly lifted mask and just rests his lips on the side of the cup as he gets himself lost in his thoughts. I swing my feet back and forth below me like a kid, taking small sips of the strong coffee and feeling them trickle down my throat. It’s a weird feeling, because the warm liquid contrasts between the coolness of my body around it.

The cup slightly warms my hands as I hold it up with both of them, enjoying the comfortable feeling it is giving me. Kage takes his first large swig, and I laugh at him as he chokes a little bit from taking too fast of a drink. He attempts a glare on his mask, but can’t really manage one because of how much he is coughing.

I lightly smack his back a couple of times, and that seems to do the trick for him. He looks up at me, and I see the blush dusted along his jaw. He uncovered it from his coughing fit knocking his mask crooked on his face. He rights his mask so it covers his jaw again and sits a little straighter than before. He then sets his coffee cup down on the counter between us and shoves himself off and onto the floor.

“Do you like your coffee sweet?” He asks me while still facing forward.

I take a quick glance at the plain black coffee in my cup, taking a second to swish it around once before answering him. “I like my coffee a little sweet, yeah. But I really don’t care either way. I’m fine right now.” I lie a little bit. Now that I am awake, I wish it were just a little sweeter than just black. It’s really strong.

He cocks his head to the side, giving me a sidelong glance with squinted eyes. I embarrassedly avert mine from him and turn them back to the coffee swirling around in my cup. He holds out his hand to me, and all I do is stare at it.

“Here, give me your cup. I swear you won’t regret it.” He prods a little bit as he senses that I have lied a little bit. I sigh. Nothing gets past him, now does it?

I fork over the cup of coffee, and he takes it quietly. I watch him as he strides over to a large cabinet across the kitchen and opens it, then takes out a large box full of small creamer cups. I lean a little to my right, trying to see around him and figure out what he is doing, but he just shifts again to where I can’t see.

“No peeking until I’m done.” He chides me playfully. I huff a little bit and entertain myself by just fiddling around with my hands. I find that my days old nail polish is flaking off a bit, so I pick a little bit of it off and wash it down the sink next to me. He lets out an excited noise, and I peek over at him again to see if he is done. He seems to be, because he picks the coffee cup up with both hands. He walks painfully slowly, my curiosity growing by every millisecond that passes by. I hop off of the counter and meet him in the middle of the room.

He proudly shows me the now very full cup off coffee. I smile appreciatively as I stare into the cup. There is a large, beautiful fern made out of coffee creamer covering the brim of the coffee cup. He slowly raises his hands so it is level with my lips.

“It’s a little too full to hand it to you without spilling it. Here, try it!” He says as he gestures with his head excitedly for me to try it. I laugh at his enthusiasm and lean forward to take a sip.

I never leave his painted eyes with my own, but it doesn’t matter anyway if I move a little too far or too less, he brings it to my lips steadily anyway. I take a large sip from the side of the cup, thoughtfully humming as the bitter-sweet taste flows over my lips and onto my tongue.

“How is it?” He asks, a little unsure of what I might say. I hear his voice waver a little in uncertainty.

“It’s wonderful. I love it.” I say coolly back to him. “You should try it.” I purr and look up a little to meet his gaze. We’re pretty close to one another, I notice. Our lips are only kept apart by the cup that is between the two of us.

“I have something sweeter in mind…” He mumbles, his lips brushing against the cup as he talks. I lower my eyelids halfway and focus my gaze on his mask’s eyes.

“Oh really?” I whisper just low enough so he can hear. “What’s that?” He lowers the coffee cup and sets it on the counter, stretching his arm just far enough so he doesn’t have to lean away. In my eyes, everything in the room gains a soft pink tint as I feel my eyes start to turn a reddish color, and a small jittery feeling sparks to life in my stomach that I can’t quite place.

He pulls his mask up a little and leans in close enough to where our lips are almost touching, but all of the sudden, he puts something in my slightly open mouth. My eyes open wide in surprise and I back up a little bit in shock. I automatically recognize the taste to be a chocolate covered cherry.

I look at him with an annoyed but also impressed look. I shake my head at him and bite into the small cherry in my mouth. I used to not really care for cherries, but for some reason the flavor has a lot more depth to it, and I admire it a bit more as the chocolate coating melts onto the roof of my mouth. I get an idea and open my mouth a little bit and push the cherry to the tip of my lips. He watches as I press my teeth slowly into the skin of the cherry until they finally break through, then put it back into my mouth.

“Will you look at that, I popped my cherry.” I say with a wink as I swallow the pitted cherry. His mask betrays him in showing the surprised and embarrassed expression on his face. I laugh a little bit and turn around to pick up the warm mug of creamy coffee. I smile at the now deformed milky white fern that sits on top of the coffee before taking another sip. “I used to not like cherries that much.” I comment to him, just trying to start another conversation. He chuckles a little bit with his mouth closed, so I hear the hum of his voice ring out through the room at a soothing baritone pitch.

He comes up next to me at the counter and places a gentle hand on my right shoulder blade. I turn to meet his gaze, and hold the cup towards him a little bit to silently ask if he wants any. He shakes his head a little bit and I hear a the small inhale of breath that he always takes before he says something.

“When you turn, certain parts of your body like your nerves and your five senses are kept at a higher level so that if you need to quickly get out of a pinch, you don’t have to wait for your extra abilities to ‘charge up’ a little bit. All of the foods that you don’t like become richer in taste and your mind changes the taste to fit your preferences. It’s like a survival tactic or something.” He informs me.

“You’re starting to sound like Ej.” I joke as I go to take another sip of my coffee. He grins widely and closes his eyes on his mask.

We stand there in silence for a minute, just quietly enveloped in our thoughts, but it soon becomes really awkward and tense. I feel the urge to keep the silence away from us.

“So,” Both of us say at the same time and look at each other. We just stare at each other for a second before laughing a little bit at each other.

“You first.” Kage suggests to me and moves his hand away from my shoulder to lean on the counter.

“Ah, um… wait. I don’t remember what I was going to say…” I sigh and look at him with an apologetic grin. He chuckles again, and I feel a small twinge of something in my chest. I don’t know what it is, but it feels warm, and makes me just kinda want to rush forward and hug Kage. For no reason whatsoever. It just fills my veins with excitement and warmth. A small burst of red color explodes in my vision, but quickly fades away like a firework.

“Should I go first then?” He teases me a little bit as I feel my ears warm up a little with a blush.

“You probably should.” I say back to him with the same apologetic grin, but with a laugh added onto the end of it.

“Well, I just wanted to tell you about what I thought when I first met you-” I accidentally cut him off with a snicker I fail to hold back. He growls at me playfully.

“Isn’t that what old married couples do? You’re being so sappy.” I poke fun at him a little more.

“I can be sappy if I want to!” He sasses back to me. I laugh a little bit, but put my full attention on him again to let him know I’m ready to listen. “I had already known you were the best detective in the whole city, so I expected that you would get my case eventually. I had actually just started tailing you that first day you got the case files. I screwed up a little and let you see me because I got lost in the lunch crowds. When I thought about it a little more though, I realized it would be more fun to get to know you on more of a personal level, so I came into your cafe. I realized I was in trouble when I felt just how much I liked talking and playing around with you, so I snuck in.”

“Yeah, and scared the living shit out of me.”

“Haha, yeah I know, but we would never be here if I didn’t, now would we? Anyway, you’re the most entertaining person to annoy.” He snickers and smiles. “I like seeing those expressions on your face.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep.”

…

“You’re such a sap.” I mumble with a small red blush dusted onto my cheeks as I try to look everywhere else besides Kage. I feel odd having someone be this sweet to me.He laughs again and holds out his hand to me. I give him the half-full cup of coffee, to which he brings up to the bottom of his mask before lifting it and drinking the rest.

“You’re right, and I was wrong, this is actually sweeter than what I had in mind. You’re saltier than I thought.” He mumbles playfully with his lips curved into a smile against the cup. I pout and cross my arms.

“I am not salty.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Uh-uh.”

“Prove it, then.” He urges me. I don’t think he really thought about what was going to say before it came out of his mouth, but I really don’t care. All of the sudden, before I can really think, I’m pressing myself onto his exposed lips. He stands stock still for about a millisecond before pushing with the same amount of force as I am.

He pushes me back onto the counter, and I hoist myself to sit on top of it. Our eyes are nailed shut as we kiss with such an amount of force and passion, we should probably have broken bones by now. I hear my breathing pick up as I feel a soft brush of his tongue on my lips. I tilt my head to the side a little bit and prod his tongue to continue.

He seems just as surprised with me as I am with myself. I continue forcefully pushing into his lips as his hands desperately try to find a place to rest. One ends up slamming on the counter next to me, and the other behind my neck. I feel the edge of his mask pressing almost painfully into the side of my nose, but I block it out and try to sort through my thoughts a little bit to calm down.

He pulls away first, and I let out a little breath of air. A slight tinge of the coffee mixed with a little of something else tattoos itself onto my tongue and mulls around on my taste buds as we collect ourselves a little more in our own little worlds.

“I stand corrected.” He says with a breathy laugh and a hand over his chest.

“Damn right, you did.”


	15. Training

“You’ve got mail.” Kage says in a funny robotic tone.

“Oh really, from who?” I don’t take my eyes away from my phone and just keep scrolling through news posts, trying to check for any developments on my case, or any other case for that matter.

“Ooh, you must be in trouble! It’s from Slender.”

This gets my attention and I look up to meet his eyes. He playfully waves an envelope in the air at me before using it as a fan and lowering his eyelids seductively. I roll my eyes and hold out my hand towards him. Trudging over and placing the letter in my outstretched hand, he throws himself down on the sheets right next to me. I glare at him as he jostles me from my comfortable position.

Bright laughter comes out of his mouth, and I can’t hold my sour expression for long as he goofily grins at me. The mood lightens a bit and I feel a little bit of the awkward tension fade away. That kiss earlier made us take our minds off of our troubles, but some new ones formed in the process. Now we feel a little awkward around each other. I mean, we kissed! Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, but… he did kiss me back! I start to fidget around a bit as I start worrying that maybe I took it too far too fast.

“I really don’t feel like getting up to go.” I mumble to him as he shifts around on the bed to look up at me better. The expression on his face loses a small bit of its happy glow and turns somewhat serious.

“You really do need to go. Slenderman can get really scary if you make him wait.” He prods my side and starts coaxing me to get up.

“He doesn’t seem all that scary.”

“Trust me, (Y/N). He has the highest kill count even with us all combined. He is dangerous.”

My expression softens as I see that smidgen of worry appear in his eyes and hide in the corner of his mouth. I smile at him thoughtfully and lightly place my hand on his shoulder.

“Fine. Don’t miss me too much then.”

A smirk pulls at the corners of his mouth and he winks before sitting up to face me again. “You can dream.”

“Psh yeah right, Kage. You’re the dreamer here.” I playfully jab his side which makes him laugh so hard, no sound comes out. “I’ll be back soon. See ya.” I shove my phone into my pocket and run my hand through my hair once before turning.

He waves to me and takes out his phone. I shake my head with a faint smile and exit into the hallway.

Time Skip

“I expected you to be here a lot sooner than this, Ms. (L/N).”

“My apologies, sir.” The formalities are making me a little uncomfortable as he folds his large pale white hands together above the desk and tilts his head. I stare fixedly at his face with a questioning look and wait for whatever he wants to tell me.

“I understand that you have only been here a few days, but it seems like you have been adjusting well. Have you had any problems with your stay here?”

“No, no, not at all. It has been wonderful meeting all of you so far.” I quickly answer back.

“Good, good. Now I wanted to ask you about what you can do for me.”

An uneasy feeling wells up in my stomach and I cock my head to the side. Every muscle in my body tenses, and I unintentionally prepare to fight. For what? I don’t know. But what I do know is that the way he asked me the question definitely set me on edge. I feel like I should tread lightly.

“And what might that be?”

“Here at this house, everyone plays a specific part. All of us are killers, as Kagekao might have told you. We need to kill in order to keep ourselves feared and alive, or rather, immortal. Think of the first time you killed. Did you feel any remorse?”

The atmosphere around us is unbearable, and I find myself trying to look everywhere except his face. I end up picking some small loose threads off of my pants and lightly removing some dirt from under my fingernails while I think about my answer. I also feel like I’m sitting on a rock that had been placed on my chair because I CANNOT stop wiggling around to get more comfortable. I try to move the conversation along as fast as I can to get out of here.

“No, never, I always had that feeling that I had brought about justice.”

“What about the last time you killed, right before you came here? What did you feel?”

I place my hand under my chin and try to remember back. All of my emotions then we're really jumbled together.

“I felt like I was finally awake, I guess. Like I had been in a drowsy state until then. It felt wonderful to see terror on the faces of the people who wronged me… that had wronged everyone around them…”

“Good, I think I know how I will go about this now. You need a killing style. Something that is unique to your resolve- to your personality- before you became one of us.”

“Could you explain a little more?”

“Eyeless Jack was a medical student in college. I won’t go far into his private story, but he uses his love for the medical field to kill. Not to mention what he has to accomplish in order to satisfy his stomach.”

“I think I get it now… I was a part of law enforcement, so my killing style will be somewhere along the lines of justice?”

“Yes, child. You will want to be the judge of good and evil, yes? Then you shall take matters into your own hands and deal punishment accordingly. Does that sound like something you might want to utilize your powers for?”

“Yes. That sounds perfect for me.”

“Good choice. Now that I have evaluated you, I shall make a training schedule for you. Because you already have an expertise in combat, I shall have you train with my proxies, Hoodie, Masky, and Toby. Meet them out in the poppy field in ten minutes. You will be meeting there at 10 AM to 12 PM every Wednesday and Saturday unless told otherwise.”

“Yes sir.”

“You are dismissed. Thank you for your time.”

I nod my head and exit through the door as fast as possible. When it is closed, I lean against it to try to let my thoughts catch up to me. I think about going back in to ask about what times we are supposed to meet again because my brain skimped on the remembering part. I quickly decide against it though because of how intimidating Slenderman is.

I decide to just head out and wait for the people I will be training with. They can tell me the answer. Kage can come and find me if he really wants to.

Time Skip

My hands are so tightly wrapped around the branch I’m sitting on that they start to ache. I disregard it and keep swinging my legs below me and listen to the breeze blow through the leaves around me. I keep my eyes trained on the door and watch for anybody to come out because I already know that there is nobody in the poppy field just up the hill.

I take my eyes away for a second as I have a slight panic attack. I lose my grip on the branch under me slightly and feel myself fall back a little. My heart jumps into my throat, but I quickly regain my balance. I huff out a deep breath that got caught in my throat and place a hand on my forehead.

“You should really be careful, you might fall.” I hear a deep male voice warn from below me.

I glance down to see a guy clad in a yellow jacket and wears a white mask with feminine features painted on it in black. He sweeps his dark brown hair to the left side of his face and crosses his arms. I hook my knees around the branch and lower myself down so I am completely eye level with him except upside-down.

I can sense some amusement from him and let a hint of a smirk play on my lips. I can just tell that he is one of the guys I will be training with today.

“You’re (Y/n), right?”

I nod my head, which I automatically think was a bad idea because I can feel just how much blood has rushed to my head. I reach my arms up to the branch and twist myself so that I am hanging by it with my arms before letting myself drop to the ground in front of him.

I land in a crouched position, and then straighten myself up so I am level with his eyes again. He is a few good inches taller than me, and the top of my head reaches up to the bridge of my nose. I hold my hand out to shake his hand, which he quickly obliges to.

“You are?” I ask with a friendly tone.

“Masky, one of Slenderman’s proxies.”

“Mmh.” I hum in agreement and nod my head.

“We have to go get the vests from the shed. Do you want to come help? The other two aren't here yet.”

“Yeah, sure.”

He turns and walks back towards the house, and I follow closely behind him. As we get to the corner of the house, I see a small garden shed placed right up against the side of the house. It looks old and unused, with shingles falling off and cracked windows caked with dust.

He twists the knob hard and uses his shoulder to push open the door. A harsh screech emits from the hinges of the door and I almost cover my ears at the noise. Masky clearly flinches in front of me at the sound as well, and then presses a finger to his temple and clenches his jaw.

“The vests are over in the right corner. Be careful though, we have had snakes in here before. Also watch out for the spiders. Some brown recluses laid eggs here last year. Little poisonous baby spiders could get stuck in your hair and bite you.” He tries to keep his voice from changing as he amuses himself by trying to scare me. I only give him a deadpan expression and walk ahead of him over and into the corner of the shed.

He just watches as I pick up a couple of heavy black vests and walk out without a single care in the world. He keeps watching me after I am a couple of feet out the door, so I turn around and look at him with a blank expression.

“What? Are you scared of a couple of snakes and spiders?”

This shakes him out of his small trance and he quickly walks in, picks up two more vests, then rushes out next to me. I let a small smile break onto my lips as he gets a little flustered and the tips of his ears turn red.

“MASKY!!!!”

I jump as I hear a loud voice call from behind us. I turn my head slightly only to almost be pummeled by a teenage boy. Masky seems to take on a darker mood as the boy throws himself against his back and knocks him slightly off-balance.

A second guy follows and I think he is around my age from his stature and the air about him. He wears a black ski mask with red eyes and a mouth sewn into the black fabric while also wearing a good amount of black in the rest of his outfit. He raises his hand and shyly waves at me, which I return.

I walk up to the calmer guy, making him shift his weight between his feet and try to look in different directions.

“Hi, I’m (Y/N).”

“Hoodie.” He mumbles and cautiously holds a hand out to me. I take it and give it a gentle shake before turning back to watch Masky struggle to get the younger boy off of his back only to fall face first into a patch of grass. Hoodie and I try to hold back our laughter, but are sent over the edge as the boy let's out a loud round of giggles.

“I'm so gonna kick your ass, Toby!”

“I-I’d like to see you try!”

Masky picks up one of the vests and throws it onto his shoulders with Toby mimicking his movements. Hoodie shrugs to himself and trudges forward to pick up one of the vests from the ground. I follow him and watch amusedly as he brushes a couple of dusty spider webs from it in disgust before putting it on reluctantly.

Masky runs back into the shed and makes a loud clanging noise before running back out and throwing a dagger of some sort through the air. I dodge it by inches of it almost hitting my face and follow its spinning movement until it lodges itself into the chest of Toby’s vest.

I jump as I feel a light tap on my shoulder. Hoodie comes into my vision again and keeps strapping the last few places on his vest.

“They're knife proof. The daggers themselves won't inflict much damage, and you will be able to heal pretty quickly if you are hit anywhere besides the vest. Just... strap this here, and… bring this over here…”

Hoodie puts the last few straps in place for me and then holds his hand up and motions for Masky. Masky sees his hand and pitches him a couple of daggers. Hoodie then holds one out and places it in my hand.

“We weren't really briefed about you, but I'm still guessing from that dodge and some rumors that you do have some training, right?”

I nod and turn quickly to Masky, throwing the knife with care so it hits him square in his chest. He looks shocked at first because he doesn't know where it comes from, but then brightens up a bit as he see Hoodie holding a thumbs up to me.

“Alright, alright. Settle down,” Hoodie says as he holds his hands up for us to stop. Masky jerks the small knife out of his chest and lowers his arm to turn and listen. Toby also calms down and walks forward to hear Hoodie a little better. “You guys know the rules, but because (Y/N) has never done this before you’re going to have to go easy on her at first.” They nod and then Hoodie turns to me. “The rules are simple. You can take cover anywhere in front of the tree line as long as you don’t stay there for more than two minutes. Everyone is fair game, and whoever hits everybody else on the vest wins the round, or whoever is left standing without three different daggers having hit them. You can use the daggers people throw at you as your own ammo as well. If you are hit three times by everyone else you are out.”

I nod my head and wait for Masky to go back into the shed and bring out some more knives to add up to two dozen. He hands us six each.

“Alright time starts now. You have thirty seconds to take cover.”

I put four of my daggers into the patch sewn into the side of the vest and keep two in my hand. While everybody else takes off towards their spots, I stay in place and look around for a few seconds to choose where to hide before deciding that the best place to hide and easiest to throw daggers from is the willow tree.

I sprint off towards it at a surprising speed and jump up to latch onto the first branch before hoisting myself up onto it and climbing up a few more limbs to get more cover. I start to look for where everyone else went, and see that Hoodie has just taken cover in the poppy flowers while Toby has found a place behind him so that he will be able to creep up on him without being noticed. I try to spot Masky, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere.

My mind tells me that the thirty seconds are up, and I watch the poppies for movement. Right off the bat Toby flicks a dagger at Hoodie, to which he quickly reciprocates after snatching it out of the air and sending it reeling back at Toby with breakneck speed. Toby doesn’t dodge fast enough and it hits him in the abdomen. He laughs and takes it out, running towards Hoodie.

After many tries, Toby lands a knife on Hoodie. It doesn’t stick into the vest, but it still counts as a point. I realize my two minutes are up and hop from the tree to take off towards the shed again. Hoodie sees me from the top of the hill and tries to throw a knife down, but it doesn’t quite match my acceleration and ends up missing me by a couple of inches.

I keep running and wink at him, which makes him tense up enough for Toby to be able to tackle him and send them rolling down the hill. I keep a sharp eye out for Masky, but don’t see anything even as I get closer to the shed.

I hide myself behind the side of the shed and keep tabs on Hoodie and Toby, who are just wrestling around a bit before I carefully aim and throw a knife that sticks into the shoulder of Toby’s and Hoodie’s vest at the same time with a sideways slash.

“Aw, come on that has to be cheating!” Toby yells after me as I accidentally shout a little too loud in happiness. I cover my mouth and look around before using the side panels of the house and the edge of the shed to propel myself up and on top of it. Hoodie pushes Toby off of him and runs over to me, trying to land a knife on me, but missing as I dodge with little effort until he runs of ammo. He mutters a soft “dammit” before taking my knife from his shoulder and aiming.

I smile as he readies himself to throw it, but gasp as I see Masky crawl out of the poppies from the top of the hill and pitch a knife down at Hoodie, successfully hitting him and making him lose.

All three of us laugh at Hoodie as he grumbles and stomps over to the porch of the house to mope. While Toby is distracted by his laughter, Masky quickly throws another dagger at Toby, and putting him in the same position and mood as Hoodie.

While Masky throws his dagger, I quietly hop down from the top of the shed and run around the side of the house again to get to the willow tree. He doesn’t notice me, and I climb up into the branches faster than I’ve ever done anything in my life. He shouts a string of curses as he loses sight of me, and then walks down the hill to search.

I cover my mouth to keep from giggling as he looks all around the house, taking away my first minute. He turns his back to me as he reaches the front porch to ask Toby and Hoodie about where I went. They keep him distracted while I lower myself from the tree as carefully and silently as possible.

I take a knife from my side and twirl it around in my hand, taking a few steps closer before chucking it toward him.

It hits him square in the back, and I let out a loud yell in triumph. Masky turns to me with a shocked expression before shaking his head and smiling.

He reaches his right arm back to pull it out, but struggles to reach it. He twists his other arm up to reach it, but can only touch it with his fingertips. He ends up growling, then spinning around to try to get it. A huge round of laughter comes out of my mouth and I jump from my spot.

“Stop! Let me pull it out!” I giggle and snatch the knife out. He stops spinning and grumbles, placing his hand on the back of his neck and messing up his hair.

“Come get your lunch or Toby will eat it all.” Hoodie informs us as he comes out of the front door with a basket of sandwiches and water. Masky and I glance at each other before running towards Hoodie full speed, trying to push each other off our feet and out of the way as we go.

Time Skip

I open the door to my room with a slight smile on my face and a relaxed demeanor. I hoist my bag off of my shoulder as I step inside of the room, catching Kage’s curious expression which is only visible by dim lamplight. He has his mask placed on the bedside table and he puts the book he was reading down right next to it. I drop the bag on the floor and let it fall into a rugged and worn heap.

“Hey, I’m back.”

“So I’ve noticed... Sounds like you had a busy day. What did you do?”

“First day of training…”

“Ooh, ouch. Want me to rub your back or something?”

“It wasn’t that bad, okay? I have trained harder. Not saying no to the back rub though.”

“Come here then!” He motions for me to sit in front of him with a smile.

I shut the door behind me and walk over to the bed, falling down onto it right in front of him with my back turned, then sitting up straight. He takes my hair and surprises me by twisting it and tying it into a top knot. Before I can say anything, he slides his fingertips from my hair down and along the sensitive skin on my neck. He adds a bit of pressure then takes his thumbs and lightly pinches along the tendons and rubbing in small circles. His hands are a little cold, so it feels nice along my sore muscles and warm skin.

“Oh, that feels so good.” I moan with closed eyes.

“You’re welcome.”

“Thanks.”

“So what did you do during training?”

“A bit of knife throwing at each other.” I comment nonchalantly. He pinches a little too hard on my neck, making me squeak and jerk away a little bit. I lightly rub against the spot with the palm of my hand and scowl at him.

“What?!” His voice takes on an unnaturally high tone.

“Ow, we were wearing vests, don’t worry Grandma. Don’t get your pantyhose in a knot.”

“Very funny.” He looks at me with a very unamused look on his face.

“I thought so.”

“I’m serious, what if they missed and hit you in the head, or worse, the crotch! I don’t think you would want EJ to patch that up, (Y/N).”

“Have you forgotten that I am immortal like you? I doubt a knife to the head ever killed any of you. And what if I get a knife to the crotch? Would you rather patch it up instead, pervert?”

His voice cracks as he stops himself from saying whatever he was about to say, then shifts his eyes around as a large blush comes to his face that he tries to hide with one of his hands. He opens his mouth after a couple of seconds of silence.

“N-no, I would rather leave that up to EJ, I guess.”

“*Cough cough* Jealous.” I can barely hold back a giggle as I cover my mouth to pretend cough.

“What did you just say?”

“I didn’t say anything, I was just coughing.”

“I think it sounds a little unusual, maybe I should check and see if anything is wrong with you.”

“Wait, no-”

He jerks his hands down to my sides and pushes just enough for it to bring a loud round of laughter from me and making me squirm against him. He laughs and pulls me to him a little more with his hands still grasping my sides, thinking that I won’t notice. I keep laughing uncontrollably, but twist myself around a little bit so I am facing him. I jab him in the sides, which makes him burst out in laughter. He lets go of me, giving me just enough leverage to push him over to the side facing the wall then jump up and stand just a little bit away from the bed.

“Not cool, Grandma.” I pout with a few remaining giggles breaking up my sentence a bit.

“I swear if that is my new nickname I will kill you.”

“Woah, I thought you were worried about me just a second ago.” I mock him with a fake shocked expression. I even place my hand over my heart for even more emphasis.

“Oh, shut up.” He grumbles from his position against the wall.

I kick off my shoes and peel off my socks then jerk the covers of the bed up, surprising Kage. I crawl under them and turn myself so that I am facing away from him. 

“Goodnight then!”

“Wha-,” He sighs and I can just see him shaking his head, “Goodnight (Y/N).” I smile to myself and clench my eyes shut as he reaches over me to turn off the lamp before kicking his shoes off and pulling the covers up and out from under him. I bite my lip as he lays down facing the wall, wiggling a little bit to lightly press his back against mine. Sighing, I close my eyes and shake my head. He is changing me bit by bit, and I’m amazed to find myself liking it. Oh well… I think to myself. It can’t hurt to have a crush.


End file.
